A Girl from Someplace Sweeter
by ErieDragon
Summary: An alternate universe where Tsukushi becomes the victim of bizarre circumstances and far too many love triangles.
1. Welcome to the Doumyouji House

=**_NOTE: _**If you've already read the prologue, scroll down. Chapter one has been added.=

A Girl from Someplace Sweeter

0 - Prologue

"Tsukasa!"

Tsukasa's head jerked up. Before he could move, stutter, or smile, he found himself struggling to breathe with a pair of arms locked tightly around his waist. With a light pat to the head he disengaged himself and smiled at the somewhat shorter, wide-eyed girl standing in front of him, whose hair was a bit mussed and her hands were tucked tightly behind her back after releasing him. She smiled.

"Hey there," he greeted, his usually stern, dark eyes brightening, "how was the trip?"

She adjusted her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave the area near the gate where he had been sitting. "Not too bad," she replied. She seemed to have recovered from her initial excitement. "I liked it until the view was blocked by clouds."

At that, Tsukasa laughed and patted her shoulder. "Flying is still new to you. Your first time was only a few years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, come on. Tsubaki's waiting at the mansion to see you. She's going to leave in a few days."

Her eyes fell. "Oh, I see," she murmured. With a sigh, he stopped her with one hand and bopped her lightly on the forehead with his finger, then lowered his head to look at her.

"Come on, don't be like that," he snorted. "Let's go, ugly."

She huffed indignantly. "Ugly?" she growled, "You're the one who's ugly, what with those curls and all. I can't believe you're my brother!"

"And with those plain looks, I can't believe you're my sister!" Tsukasa shot back. Bickering merrily, the pair left the concourse.

"Hey, Akira, did you hear? Tsukasa's sister is back in town."

Akira raised one eyebrow. "Sister? You mean Tsubaki? I thought she was already here."

"If it were Tsubaki, I would have said Tsubaki. No, his younger sister," Soujiro corrected and leaned back in his chair, using his shoulder to hold the phone against his ear.

"I thought she was living in Hiroshima with her mother."

"She was. She just came back to Tokyo today, and I hear she's staying for good."

Akira stifled a gasp and leaned forward, replying, "You mean Tsukasa's mother is letting her anywhere near Tsukasa? That's impossible."

"Apparently not. I have no idea what's going on over there," Soujiro snorted in distaste. "I thought they'd forgotten all about her, since her existence was such a disgrace to the family."

"Yeah, I would have thought that old lady would try to keep the whole thing under wraps."

"Doesn't seem so."

"Tsubaki-san?" Tsubaki raised her head at the inquiring voice. She saw a short, oddly-dressed girl standing in the doorway, her brown hair hanging loose to below her shoulders and her bangs uncut and uneven. She blinked her wide, vividly brown eyes, and they drew away from her round face, wide shoulders and strong eyebrows. The eyes. Tsubaki recognized her instantly.

"Don't be so formal," Tsubaki requested in a somewhat melancholy voice, "it makes us sound so distant. Come inside, I haven't seen you in years."

The girl bowed and came into the den, taking a brief, unmasked look around before smiling broadly at the older woman. "It's good to see you again, oneesan."

Tsubaki smiled. "That's better. It's too sad when my own sister is formal with me... It makes you sound like mother." The girl laughed and nodded in agreement. "Now, come sit down. I want to hear how you've been doing, Tsukushi-chan."

****

1 - Welcome to the Doumyouji House

The first thing to strike any normal person about the Doumyouji mansion would be the size: it was huge, with grand terraces, balconies, and more rooms, bathrooms, dining rooms and drawing rooms than anyone could count. Next would be the ornate designs on every last table and pillar, the cleanliness, the vast gardens, and the large staff.

The moment Tsukushi stepped into the Doumyouji mansion, she thought that it seemed a little lonely.

And cold.

After she had had her bags taken by servants with heads bowed and watched Tsukasa giving a maid a piece of his mind about something she wasn't paying attention to, she had been led to meet Tsubaki and have a brief chat before dinner. If she had thought the mansion empty and distant at first glance, her definitions were redefined by the dinner table. It was half the length of the room, and reaching the bread halfway between she and Tsukasa was a trial and tribulation in itself. She sat between the resident of the house and their older sister, and yet, she found she had to talk louder than usual for either of them to hear her clearly. It was a rather troublesome business, she thought. In the future she would suggest to Tsukasa that they eat in a smaller room--with a smaller table--if possible.

Tsukushi cleared her throat. "Oneesan," she addressed Tsubaki loudly, "when do you have to go back to America?"

"In two days," the older woman replied, chuckling somewhat to herself at the girl's obvious uneasiness. She saw Tsukushi's face falter at her response, and glanced up at Tsukasa, who was watching her. "But don't worry, you won't be lonely, you'll have that moron over there to keep you company."

Tsukushi glanced over at Tsukasa and chuckled at his expression, which displayed his fluster, irritation, and offense all at once. "I don't want to be a bother," she told them, "I should go make friends quickly!" Tsubaki laughed.

"That's a good idea, Tsukushi-chan. But for now, Tsukasa, will you take her around until she knows the city a bit better?"

Tsukasa grunted out a "Sure, whatever," as a reply and ate a miniscule piece of rice. "What about school? You're a year younger, right?"

"I'm a second year," Tsukushi said with a nod, smiling politely. Tsukasa frowned at her. "You're a third year?" He replied with an affirmative grunt and resumed eating, so Tsukushi closed her mouth and followed suit.

"Mother enrolled you at Eitoku as well," Tsubaki spoke up. The other two siblings seated at the table dropped their utensils. "You start next week, Tsukushi-chan."

Tsukushi let her shock take over as a vegetable slid down her throat, getting caught somewhere along the way. With a gasp and a choke she stared wide-eyed at Tsubaki, hand gripping the table, and coughed, hardly noticing when Tsukasa leaped from his seat and quickly came over to pat her on the back. Before she could react she swallowed the offending food and gave him a brief glance of appreciation.

"But, oneesan," Tsukushi objected after clearing her throat, "I live in Hiroshima and even I've heard of Eitoku! I couldn't go there, I'd never fit in at a rich school like that." She gave Tsukasa a sideways look at Tsubaki's seeming unemotional expression.

Tsukushi jumped when Tsubaki's voice replied in a coolly, "You're a Doumyouji. Of course you'll fit in. Now, we should all get to bed early tonight. I'm sure you both will have a busy day tomorrow." Tsubaki gave her brother a meaningful look, which he responded to by crossing his arms and looking away spitefully. She sighed. "I'll find Tama. She'll take you to your room, Tsukushi-chan."

With that final word, Tsubaki rose and folded her napkin, lightly touched her lips with it, and placed it on the table before walking out of the dining room into the hallway.

Tsukasa was in the process of wiping his chopsticks clean when Tsukushi murmured, "Sorry."

He blinked. "For what?"

"That you have to take me around tomorrow. I'm sure I can just walk around for a while," she replied, both hands crossed under the table and her eyes on the tablecloth.

Tsukasa sighed and tilted his head. "Don't worry about it," he said, "I have nothing better to do anyway. It'll give us a chance to catch up." Noting her still somewhat melancholy look, he added, "Stop pouting, it makes you look uglier than you already are."

Just as she opened her mouth to retort--and her blood started boiling--the door opened and a short, frail-looking old woman walked into the dining room. With one sharp look from her Tsukasa's mocking grin immediately disappeared and Tsukushi noticed his back straighten.

"The young mistress informed me you will be staying here from now on," the woman announced, still standing by the door as she addressed Tsukushi. Even with wrinkles, gray hair, supportive cane and maid's uniform, the stranger had an air of authority that seemed to even affect master-of-the-house Tsukasa. "Come with me."

Nodding once at Tsukasa, Tsukushi got to her feet as quickly as possible and put her napkin and chopsticks on the table, barely missing catching a shirt button on the tablecloth as she stood. She bowed once, earning herself a strange look from the old woman, and smiled. "All right," she said with a polite grin. "I'm Tsukushi. Ma... Doumyouji Tsukushi."

"I know," the woman snorted with one eyebrow raised. "I'll take you to your room."

"You don't have to be so annoyingly polite."

Tsukushi jerked her head up and stared. Tsukasa walked beside her--slightly ahead, both hands tucked into his pockets--with his eyes focused on the sidewalk rather than the shops they passed.

"What do you mean?" she asked, clearing her throat when her voice came out a little high-pitched. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, glanced over her curious, wide-eyed face once before sighing and pausing in front of one of the glass doors to Chanel.

"I mean you can just be yourself. I've at least known you long enough for that," he replied gruffly. As he went to open the door to the shop, he glanced back at her.

Tsukushi laughed and pointed at him. "You look stupid when you try to be so serious," she mocked and grabbed his sleeve with one hand, jerking the surprised Tsukasa away and walking back to the sidewalk. "Come on, let's keep going. I want to find a cheaper place to shop."

"Cheaper?!"

By two in the afternoon, Tsukasa was found collapsed in a seat in a small burger shop. He had his head pillowed in his arms on the table with two empty baskets beside him, and Tsukushi sitting just opposite. She poked him in the head.

"Are you ready to go home?" she asked, glancing down at the three bags littering the floor around their chair legs with a grin. Tsukasa responded with an affirmative grunt and slowly eased himself up, shooting her one deadly look before picking up two of the bags and slinging them over his shoulder. She took the remaining bag and the pair left the small store.

The new spring semester had just started, so the weather was turning warm but still carried some of the cool breezes and wet rains of winter. As Tsukasa went to wave down a taxi, Tsukushi grabbed his arm and shook her head, earning a confused, somewhat irritated look. "Can we walk? It's really nice out, and I want to see more of the city," she requested, focusing both eyes on him and raising her voice in a way she knew guaranteed he would be unable to resist. Looking once at her face he acquiesced with a sigh and dropped his hand to his side. Tsukushi grinned widely and took the opportunity to raise her eyes up to the blue sky above.

The air was moist; the sun barely broke through white, puffy clouds, sending down fractured beams of sunlight. It was warm, and Tsukushi marveled at how different the very atmosphere was than what she was used to. "Tsukasa?" she inquired, glancing up. He raised both eyebrows, but didn't respond, so she continued. "What's Eitoku Gakuen like?"

"Simple," Tsukasa said, "simple and pointless. School is worthless to me. Don't ask me, I hate going there." Both his voice and expression were emotionless, and Tsukushi raised one eyebrow skeptically.

"Hate? I doubt it. A guy like you must have a lot of attention," she alleged, appraising him with her eyes from head to toe--and deliberately causing an annoyed blush--and laughed. He only snorted and crossed his arms, as if ending the conversation. Tsukushi stuck out her tongue and admonished, "You're such a spoil sport. Let's get back so I can get my uniform!"

Tsukasa blinked as she jumped ahead, jogging for a moment before waving at him. "Come on! I want to meet all your friends as quickly as I can!"

At that, his eyes flew wide, and he charged after her, bumping past at least three startled bystanders along the way.


	2. Name Twister

=Thanks to BlackArmoria at listening to my little plot-rant. It appears this might go somewhere after all. By the way, Fanfiction.net is being a little grumpy about scene changes (I use three asterisks) and so they aren't showing up. Sorry if it's confusing, hopefully the bug will be fixed soon.=

****

A Girl from Someplace Sweeter

2 - Name Twister

"Tsukasa."

Tsukasa rolled over and groaned, burying his face into the pillow, and tightened his arms around his blanket when he felt it being tugged away from him. He resisted at first, then let go as soon as he realized that it couldn't possibly be one of his servants waking him up; they would never try to pull off his blankets and would never, ever use his first name.

He murmured his confusion into his pillow as a body suddenly sat down on top of him. "Uurf!" he managed out and used his back and hip to jerk the pressure on top of him off. The result was a loud thump on the floor.

"Ow! That hurt!" Finally deciding to open his eyes he slowly turned his head, only to find Tsukushi standing beside the bed with both hands on her hips. Without hesitation she pulled off the blanket entirely--leaving Tsukasa to gasp from the rush of cold air to his bare chest--and tossed it to the floor. "Rise and shine!" With that, she crossed to the open door and left with it slamming behind her.

By the time he had made it downstairs, dressed in an open button-up and black slacks, Tsukushi was already sitting in the dining room. Before he went to find her he ordered a passing maid over to him. "Get me a girls' uniform. I'll need one in Tsukushi's size before we leave for school." He didn't wait for confirmation and went down the rest of the stairs into the entryway and disappeared around the corner.

Tsukushi glanced up as a somewhat grumpy-looking Tsukasa came into the breakfast room and sat down at the small table opposite of her. He placed both hands on the table and before he could utter a word the cook hurriedly placed an assortment of food in front of him. Tsukushi watched with unveiled fascination as he daintily took both chopsticks, adjusted them in his fingers, and started on a small bowl of rice with miso. "Ah, Tsukasa?"

She waited a moment before he gently wiped his lips with a napkin and looked at her, both dark eyes focused and his usually scowling eyebrows relaxed with a bored expression. "When do we leave for school?" she asked immediately after taking a bite of oatmeal.

"Whenever I feel like it," he replied, and went back to eating without a single quirk of his lips.

"Why aren't you wearing a uniform?"

"Because I can."

Tsukushi tried again, hoping to engage him in conversation, "Do you not have to wear a uniform at Eitoku? I didn't think a nice school would be like that."

"It's not. I ordered one for you."

"I see," Tsukushi brushed some hair behind one ear and set her spoon inside the empty bowl in front of her. She almost jumped back when the bowl was taken from her almost instantaneously by a maid, who crossed the small, tiled room and disappeared into the cook's door. She blinked and watched as Tsukasa finished his large meal in record time. As she opened her mouth to say something more, he stood up and shoved both hands into his pockets, then looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"I'm going now," he told her. "The driver will come and get you when it's time for you to go." He turned to leave, but her response interrupted him.

"Can't we go together? I don't know anyone else here yet, and oneesan said she can't go with me."

Tsukasa let out a sigh and walked over to her, leaning down to look directly into her eyes, then smiled and patted her lightly on the head. "Trust me. You don't want to be seen coming to school with me, not to mention anyone finding out earlier than necessary that you're my sister."

Tsukushi raised her eyebrows in confusion but he only winked and left the breakfast room without another word. She sighed and followed suit.

Tsukushi found herself standing alone outside the gates to Eitoku Gakuen half an hour later. Other students streamed past her, talking, pushing, giggling, and not one taking a glance at her as they passed. The school itself was large and looming before her: it consisted of many buildings, all large and mostly beige-colored, and she found that she had absolutely no idea where to go. At first, she looked at the chauffeur behind her--who was waiting for the signal to leave--and waved with a weak, unsure smile. He blinked in confusion before he took it as an all-okay sign and drove away.

As she passed through the gates and onto the school grounds, clutching her briefcase tightly to her side, she spotted a girl who looked friendly enough to approach and was alone as well, as if waiting for someone. Tsukushi quickly approached her, smiled widely, and the girl instantly noticed her.

"Hello," Tsukushi greeted, only earning a confused look, "I was wondering if you could tell me where to go. It's my first day here."

The girl smiled back at once, her gray eyes lighting up. "You must be Tsukushi-senpai!" She pushed back some of her lightly curled, auburn hair, and extended one hand. "I'm Sanjou Sakurako. I'll take you to the office to get your timetable."

Tsukushi reflexively took the hand to shake it, then found herself taken hand-in-hand by the strange girl and led through the crowd towards the school. She rushed to catch up and found Sakurako grinning at her. "H-hello, nice to meet you, Sakurako-san."

As the two pressed their way toward the largest building, Sakurako began to point out various rooms and important places as they went. "That's the university over there," she said, indicating to other structures behind the school. "The cafeteria is located behind the office, and most of the classes are in that building. Just over that way is the music building, and the art center is near the university."

Tsukushi barely had time to open her mouth before Sakurako pulled her into the main building and down the hallway, passing classes and long rows of lockers as they went. "P-pardon me," Tsukushi managed to interrupt at one point, "but how do you know me?"

The pair stopped down a somewhat deserted hall in front of a door, and Sakurako turned to her with a smile. "I'm Doumyouji-san's girlfriend. He told me to get you around," she replied, laughing, and Tsukushi furrowed her brow at the somewhat fake vibe she got from the girl's bright grin. "Come on, I'll get your schedule for you."

The ringing of the first bell found Tsukushi standing, both eyes wide and hands tightly clasping her briefcase, just inside the door of her home room. The class was loud, with girls chatting at desks together, boys throwing comics and balls of paper at one another, and the room generally overtaken by chaos. It had high, white-washed walls and a few windows along one side, with most of the desks drawn together in groups. Upon further inspection she noticed one boy sitting alone at his desk, with all the ones around him pulled away, and he looked haggard and tired. He had no bag or briefcase and his face looked a little dirty.

"Hm, I thought this was a rich school... I wonder what happened to him," Tsukushi murmured to herself as she walked past him to an empty desk near the back corner of the room. No one objected when she sat there--though some did look her way, few took notice--so she took the opportunity to observe the boy more closely.

Tsukushi nearly jumped out of her seat when she heard a sad, feminine voice beside her say, "That's Amisuka Hasaya. Don't talk to him." The girl speaking to her had her head propped up on both hands and short, straight black hair.

"Why... not?" Tsukushi asked somewhat timidly, unsure how to respond to someone with enough money to attend Eitoku Gakuen. She didn't know how she was going to survive the school.

The girl sighed. "The F4 gave him a red tag, so now the whole school ignores him. At first he was just bullied, but when that didn't succeed in making him drop out, everyone started to ignore him. If someone talks to him, they'll get red-tagged too."

Still confused, Tsukushi decided to pry further by inquiring, "The F4? Who are they?"

The girl laughed and turned to her with a smile. "I'm Endou Makiko. Nice to meet you," she said brightly. "The F4, it means the Flowery Four. They're the richest, most handsome boys in our school. I'm sure you'll get to know them soon. Everything around here is under their rule. Everything."

Tsukushi raised both eyebrows. "Everything? How can they get away with this?"

Makiko responded diligently, "Their parents fund the school. And because they're so powerful, the entire school will do whatever they say. If anyone makes the F4 mad, he or she gets a red tag and the student usually drops out of school within weeks, if not days."

"Oh," Tsukushi furrowed her brow. "I didn't know schools were actually like that. Tokyo is really different."

The girl just laughed and said, "No, that's just Eitoku."

Before their conversation could continue, the teacher came into the room, and students quickly began to drag their desks to their original positions. Hasaya didn't even flinch or glance up as those sitting near him snickered and threw him dirty looks. The teacher cleared his throat nervously, and some of the commotion died down while he took out an attendance sheet.

"Amisuka?" The boy didn't even respond, and the teacher moved on. "Ishida?"

"Here!"

Tsukushi didn't have to wait long before the teacher called, "Doumyouji?" A successive gasp rose from the class at the name, even more so when she responded, "Here!" Every head swiveled to face her, and she furrowed her brow in confusion and immediately looked at Makiko. The girl seemed to have sunken into her chair and was now staring at her with wide, somewhat frightened eyes.

"What is it?" she asked as the teacher cleared his throat again to regain the class's attention. Makiko opened her mouth but didn't say anything, and bobbed like a fish for a moment. "What's wrong?"

"D-Doumyouji?" Makiko stuttered. "You mean... like Doumyouji _Tsukasa_?"

Tsukushi stared at her in complete and unabashed confusion. "Uh, yes. He's my brother." She covered her mouth the moment it came out; she remembered Tsukasa's warning at anyone finding out their relationship. Though she didn't know why, she at least thought she might try to do as he asked for the first few days or so. He went there, he knew the school better than she did.

Makiko only seemed to look more white than she did before, and Tsukushi found her to closely resemble a ghost. "Really, are you all right? I just got here from Hiroshima, I've only been in town for a few days. I'm sorry if I said something wrong..."

The girl only shook her head and, seeming to have somewhat recovered her wits, only smiled an oddly broad smile and squeezed her eyes closed. However, both her eyebrows were strained and Tsukushi was taken aback at how overpoweringly polite it seemed. "No, nothing at all, Doumyouji-san." With that, Makiko turned to face the teacher as he began the lesson and didn't say a word again.


	3. The InFamous F4

=Have any of you all gotten emails about this new fanfiction site, "nfiction.com"? They have a fanfiction.net format but none of the restrictions! (i.e. NC-17, originals, etc.) As soon as the create-a-story works, I'm going to be updating there as well. Here's a big message to FF.net: You've been _beat_!=

A Girl from Someplace Sweeter

3 - The (In)Famous F4

The moment the bell signaling the end of class rang, Tsukushi made a mad dash for the door and was the first out into the still somewhat empty hallway.

The entire class had been a saga. Everyone in the room seemed to have permanently glued their eyes onto her, and none appealed to her at all except the one girl beside her who seemed to have mentally disappeared underneath her desk. In particular, three girls had been intent on giggling and smiling broadly at her, one of them waving every once in a while when the teacher wasn't looking and generally making it consistently difficult for her to focus on anything.

She was just a new student; it was nothing to get worked up about.

It took mere moments for Tsukushi to spot her guide, Sakurako, standing absently across the hall against the wall. She moved to cross to the girl--who didn't seem to have noticed her yet--but was suddenly blocked by the throng of passing students suddenly crowding back against her. In seconds she was suffocated behind a group of unfamiliar, wildly chattering girls and boys.

Tsukushi lightly tapped one of the girls on the shoulder, earning an annoyed glare. "Pardon me," she inquired quietly, "what is going on?" A look of confusion crossed the girl's face before she narrowed both eyes and moved to one side just enough that Tsukushi could look past.

"The F4 are coming!" she told her, then huffed and turned back to her friends, who were all peering at Tsukushi curiously.

The Flowery Four, she thought, puzzling over it in her mind. Under the rule of the entire school? Handsome and rich? They sounded more like evil dictators than anyone to be admired, she noted, as one of the girls standing to her right giggled, "I hope one of them looks at me!" Eitoku was certainly turning out to be a bizarre place.

Tsukushi finally glanced over in the direction everyone was looking when a unified gasp rose from the crowd. A rush of voices followed the entrance of the quartet.

She choked when she saw who stood at the front of the tiny procession.

Tsukasa didn't seem to have any regard for anyone around him as he spoke with a rather bored expression to a handsome, long-haired man walking beside him. Two others followed in the back--Tsukushi really didn't bother to notice them--and she could only watch with an appalled expression and a slowly widening mouth as the four passed her, Tsukasa not even noticing her among the throng.

As soon as they disappeared, the students began to resume a normal flow through the hallway, talking and walking as if nothing had happened, and Tsukushi could only stand dumbfounded as groups of girls and boys went around her on their way to classes. She noted that Sakurako had disappeared, so she finally recovered her wits and pulled out her schedule in hopes she might be able to find her next class.

If Tsukasa hadn't explicitly told her to take caution, she would have walked out to him in the hall and strangled him right there in front of the entire school.

Who did he think he was, strutting his stuff as if he owned the place? She felt her face begin to grow hot with a slow rage as she thought about it; he was the one who was bullying kids into dropping out? He was the one who had girls falling over him? It didn't seem possible. Sure, he was a handsome guy, but he hardly had a personality she considered endearing.

Even so, Tsukushi thought, she definitely had not pictured him as the type to do the kind of school hazing she had only read or heard about. Tucking her schedule back into her pocket and starting off toward the general direction she assumed her next class to be in, Tsukushi made a resolution to find Tsukasa as soon as possible and beat some sense into him, no matter who was looking.

As Tsukasa sat on the grass, sipping some iced tea that Soujiro and Akira had brought along, he wondered what had become of his little sister on her first day of school. He almost laughed at the thought, but refrained and instead looked over at the red-haired girl that was sitting beside him, chewing with small, bird-like bites on some odd dish of hers or another. He had a fleeting thought that Tsukushi might need help figuring out how to get lunch--he assumed she hadn't taken any, as the thought of making bento never occurred to him once--but the train was abandoned as soon as Sakurako attached onto his arm.

Tsukasa sighed and looked at her. "Yes?"

She smiled one of her usual small, overly-bright smiles and let her fingers gently trail across his bared forearm. "I found your sister today," she informed him sweetly, "I took her to her classes like you asked. Though she was kind of hard to recognize."

He only shrugged and gave her a brief, appreciative look. He hadn't seen Tsukushi once that day, he thought absently, but he was sure she could fend for herself. She was gifted that way.

Tsukasa almost leaped out of his skin in sheer surprise--but instead went sprawling--as a large fist collided with his head. He found himself lying face-down on the grass, a rather massive throb pounding in his head, with Sakurako squealing in surprise and shock in the background.

"I can't believe you, Doumyouji Tsukasa!" He winced at the voice. "And who are all of you hooligans?"

Tsukushi stood just behind where Tsukasa had previously been sitting with both hands on her hips, her shoulders squared, her eyes blazing and her cheeks aflame. She sized up each one of the three boys staring at her with skepticism. One was far too relaxed-looking, with annoying, glazed gray eyes and too much light brown hair. The center boy had black hair and a sharp jaw, with pronounced eyes and a pretty-boy nose, while the last one looked to have been pulled right out of a country club with lightly curled, pale hair and a sweater over his shoulders with both sleeves tied around his neck. When none of them responded and only kept wide eyes trained on her, she began to grow annoyed and pointed one finger sharply at each of them in turn. "I asked you a question!"

At her voice the middle one jumped, immediately reacting to her overbearing presence, and squeezed out, "Nishikado Soujiro!" Tsukushi seemed satisfied with this and looked severely at the other two boys.

"I'm Mimasaka Akira," the country-club one said calmly, his voice slightly flirtatious as he flipped some of his hair back over his shoulder. When some of her anger faded to give way to surprise, he smiled seductively at her.

Finally, Tsukushi focused on the sleepy, almost completely supine boy who still hadn't spoken. At that point Tsukasa seemed to have recovered, but he was merely sitting off to one side beside Sakurako, who was anxiously looking between Tsukushi and the bump on the back of Tsukasa's head. She could feel him glaring into the side of her head, but she refused to look at him. "And you are?"

"Hanazawa--" he yawned, "Rui."

Tsukushi scrunched her nose and turned to look at Tsukasa. He responded with an equally annoyed expression and quickly got to his feet, stalking over to her and staring down with flaming, dark brown eyes, both eyebrows arched.

"What is your problem?" he demanded, his voice almost a growl. He matched her fire with his, expecting an immediate loud, violent retort. However, he almost did a face-flop when her eyebrows lowered and she took two large steps back from him.

Tsukushi turned her head away before she spoke. "I can't believe you and your stupid cronies would do these things I've been hearing about. I didn't think you were that kind of person." She raised her eyes and scowled at him. "Looks like I overestimated you, brother."

With that, she turned just as suddenly as she came and stalked away, disappearing into the small crowd milling about just outside the school doors. Tsukasa's raised, fisted hand dropped limply to his side as he stared after her.

"Who was that?" Soujiro piped up, earning a swift glare from the leader of the F4. "Did she just call you 'brother'?"

Tsukasa, feeling somewhat defeated, let out a sigh and sat back down next to the wide-eyed Sakurako, who immediately latched onto him once more. "That was the new transfer student and my little sister, Tsukushi."


	4. My Past Incident

=This story has much more to it than simply the story setup--that's pretty much the reason for quick movement. There is very little need to dwell, so dwell, I will not. Plot arrives soon!=

****

A Girl from Someplace Sweeter

4 - My Past Incident

"That's the new transfer student and my little sister, Tsukushi."

Soujiro choked on his tea at that exact moment, but both Rui and Akira seemed too surprised to notice or help him.

"Little sister?" Akira uttered with wide eyes. "How...?"

Tsukasa let out an annoyed sigh and ran one hand through his hair as he looked at the three boys. "Look, it's not that shocking, it's just... She's been living in Hiroshima and just came a few days ago," he told them in exasperation.

"How come you never told us before?" Soujiro asked incredulously. "We would have known, if anything! A sister can't just appear out of nowhere."

Tsukasa realized he wasn't sure how he was going to get out of that one, especially with his three closest friends. He was about to open his mouth and dish out the truth, when he noticed Sakurako was still attached to his arm in a way that reminded him vaguely of a swamp leech. He sighed and gave each one of the three boys staring at him intently a sharp look. "Maybe later. We're going out tonight, aren't we?"

At that, Soujiro nodded with excitement. "A new club downtown!" he announced loudly, "It'll be great!" Akira looked at his friend and rolled his eyes.

Just as the boys prepared to launch into a round of plan-making, Rui let out one long, loud yawn and murmured, "I thought she was cute." The three faces of his friends, including Tsukasa's red-head girlfriend, turned to face him with wide eyes and slightly open mouths. Rui sniffled and rubbed his face with one hand, then gave each one of them a responding, confused expression. "What? She was."

At seven o'clock that night, Tsukushi sat at the small breakfast table, shoulders slumped and poking at some of the small meal she had specifically requested. She leaned her head on one hand and finally set down her chopsticks beside her plate, finding she was not interested in the least in some of her old favorite foods. She at last gave in, pushed the plate away, and put her head in her arms with one long sigh.

Tsukushi almost fell out of her chair in surprise when she heard a loud, piercing ring. It only lasted for a few seconds before she heard a maid answer the phone with a nervous, alarmed, "Moshi moshi?" She leaned back down on the table and stared at the plate just in front of her. The phone call wouldn't be for her, she knew. She had left everything behind in Hiroshima, and she had a terrible inkling that she, most likely, would never find any friends at her new school. Being the sister of the school's most powerful man was an impossible situation.

Her head jerked up when she heard the creak of the door opening behind her. She glanced up just as the maid bowed in the light coming in through the open doorway.

"There is a phone call for you, Doumyouji-sama." Both eyebrows raised in surprise, Tsukushi rose to her feet and followed the maid out of the breakfast room and down the hallway toward the phone. The maid bowed once more before leaving, and Tsukushi picked up the phone with a curious look.

"Hello?"

"Tsukushi-chan!" Immediately she knew that voice. A wide, glowing smile alighted her lips and she laughed.

"Kazuya-kun!" she replied excitedly, almost jumping up and down as she held the phone tightly to her ear. "How are you? What's England like? Is Uncle doing all right?"

She heard a responding girlish giggle over the phone as Kazuya replied with just as much vigor, "I'm doing great! Father really likes his job here, and it's paying really well! We're living in a really nice house right now, and even though I don't know a lot of English, I'm going to a school in the city with a lot of other Japanese kids, so it's okay." Tsukushi smiled at her best friend's familiar bright, drizzly voice. "How is it in Tokyo? You must be living the high life!"

At that, she laughed heartily. "Not really," she told him, "but it's okay. Eitoku Gakuen is really strange, though!" She didn't want to ruin the moment with the fact her brother was a school bully. Or that Doumyouji was a name that delivered some generally unwanted effects.

Or that she really, really wanted to go home.

Just as Tsukushi opened her mouth to ask another question, she heard a familiar voice calling in the background. "Oh, mom wants to talk to you! Here she is." She blinked as she heard some arguing and clicks against the phone.

"Tsukushi-chan! Are you well? Are they feeding you?" Tsukushi blinked, then smiled and laughed.

"Yes, Auntie, they're treating me fine," she giggled.

Kazuya's mother's voice was loud and matter-of-fact. "Well, if anything goes wrong, make sure you call us about it! I feel so terrible just leaving you there in Tokyo to fend for yourself! My poor Tsukushi-chan..."

"Really, Auntie, I'm doing just fine. But I'll call you if anything happens, okay?" Tsukushi assured the poor woman.

"Make sure you give us updates!" Before she could respond, there was a commotion on the other end and the connection ended with a click and a resounding beep. Raising one eyebrow and muttering, "Odd..." she turned off the phone and set it back down on the desk.

With a bit more spring in her step, Tsukushi left back to the dining room to finish her dinner.

The moment the four boys were seated at a small, secluded table near the back corner of the club--close enough to the bar for Soujiro's comfort--they began assaulting Tsukasa with questions. Even over the thunderous music, shouting, and hum of the speakers vibrating the walls, it was still their most preferred place of consultation.

Most likely because it was assured that no one would overhear them.

"How on Earth did you magically acquire a little sister?" Akira asked at last, leaning back in his chair and taking leisurely sips of his drink and swirling the straw on his tongue.

"Yeah! That sort of thing doesn't just happen. We would have known about it! This is ridiculous!" Soujiro chimed in.

Tsukasa gave a resigned sigh and took one sidelong glance at Rui, whose eyes were at half-mast and he seemed to be the most detached from the conversation. "Rui was the only one besides me who knew," the leader of the group replied at last and crossed his hands on the table. "If it had been my mother's choice, no one would have ever learned of it at all." Soujiro and Akira looked at each other in confusion as Tsukasa continued. "She's my half-sister. The only reason she's here at all is my father finally forced my mother to acknowledge her and adopt her into the family--she didn't have any other means to survive. She was living with her mother until she died, then went to live with one of her mother's close friends. But they moved away to England and when she was unable to go, she was adopted only by name. Legally, she's written as nothing more than adopted, but my mother's initial intention was to let it pass that she was my cousin."

"Then why haven't we heard anything about this before?" Akira inquired wisely. Tsukasa gave him an annoyed look from the corner of his eye.

"If you knew your husband had an affair, would you make it a public matter?" The two boys blinked at him, then shook their heads in unison. "Tsukushi's mother, Makino, was working at the company's Hiroshima branch when my father visited there for managerial reasons. They had a short liaison, and my father didn't think twice about it until he received the message that she had had a child, and it was his. However, he promised large amounts of compensation if she didn't mention it to anyone, so the whole thing was kept quiet until a few months ago when Tsukushi's foster family had to move away. The father of the family, Aoike-san, had been informed on the situation through Tsukushi's mother's will, and decided to confront my father about it." There, Tsukasa paused to take a deep breath. "My father finally told my mother. Since he got sick she hasn't been able to deny him anything, and this was no exception. He demanded that she be adopted and taken under the wing of the Doumyouji name, and though my mother may seem to have the reins of the operation, my father has all the real power."

At this, the two boys sitting across the table paused to ponder his words in a brief reprise. Rui, however, sat unmoving, and swiveled both distant, gray eyes on his best friend. The two exchanged a silent look of understanding as Soujiro turned back to Tsukasa with a question burning on his lips.

"She seemed pretty familiar with you, though. Have you met her before she came to your house? Because that seems like it would be quite a shock, you know, to find out you had a sister," he wondered. Akira nodded his agreement with the inquiry.

Tsukasa shook his head. "No. When I was younger, my father took me up north with him once to try and alleviate my anger a bit, back when I was getting really violent in primary and junior high school. It was only natural that I would meet her, and he actually encouraged it; it didn't take us long to spy in on a conversation between my father and her mother," he admitted, then made a nod over at Rui. "Rui even came once or twice. I'm surprised she didn't recognize you."

Rui only shrugged. "I never spoke. She probably doesn't remember an autistic little kid that did nothing but stand around or throw up."

Soujiro was just about to launch into another flurry of questions when all three pairs of eyes riveted on Akira as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and murmured, "Younger sister of Doumyouji Tsukasa, hmm?"


	5. Lonely Society

****

A Girl from Someplace Sweeter

5 - Lonely Society

By the time Tsukasa dragged himself inside the front door, most of the house was dark already. That in itself was somewhat unusual--usually the servants stayed awake or kept all the lights on until he came home. It was an order he had placed a long time ago, and he was disinclined to believe that they had suddenly forgotten their duties. As he kicked off his shoes and latched onto the railing--in order to drag his oddly heavy-feeling body up the stairs--he realized with a long groan that Tsukushi was already in bed, and he wouldn't get a chance to at least talk to her before the next most likely disastrous day of school.

Reeling and pausing halfway up the stairs, he figured it would probably be better if she didn't see him the way he was at that moment. He noted that hindsight was always twenty-twenty when he realized that eight shots was probably far too many, and he slowly let himself down from his slow ascent up the stairs and instead sat on a single step. A groan escaped when he rested his head against the landing at the top of the staircase.

Tsukasa would have tripped and toppled down the stairs if he hadn't been sitting down at the sound of a creaking in the hall just to the left of where he rested. Curious as to who would be tromping around Tsukushi's room at one in the morning, he used the railing to haul himself to his feet and proceeded to roll up his sleeves, looking suspiciously through the darkness for any signs of his visitor. He took one step forward to the unlit hall, slowly peering around the corner, his muscles tensing in preparation for any sort of surprise.

Automatically Tsukasa's balled fist went flying as a shining, gold-tinted candelabrum went sailing past his head. However, he struck air, and the force of his blow threw his entire body off-balance and toward the wall. The metal candle-holder landed with a loud, resounding noise on the floor, making a metallic shriek against the wood and startling Tsukasa off his intercept course with the wall and into the darkness of the dark hallway. His delayed shout of surprise was deafened by a loud, familiar feminine scream and Tsukasa inhaled sharply as his body collided with a much smaller, softer one.

When Tsukasa had finally regained his wits, he found himself gripping a small, wide-eyed girl tightly, her body caught under the heavy weight of his own. Tsukushi's eyes quickly went from alarmed to completely and utterly murderous.

"Get off of me, you big oaf!" she shouted--directly into his ear, much to his chagrin--and proceeded to shove with all her might against his massive chest. He responded quickly and detached himself from her and got to his knees with unsure, deliberate movements, then rocked back onto his heels and pushed himself up. Tsukushi still lay on the floor, her night gown somewhat ruffled and one button pulled undone, but she appeared no worse for the wear besides wild hair and an extremely angry, red face. All Tsukasa could do was smile apologetically, lean over and offer her a helping hand. She immediately swatted it away and stood back up in a swift movement.

"Sorry about that," Tsukasa said, rubbing the back of his head and blinking at the oncoming headache. She only snarled at him. "But what were you doing coming at me with that thing?" He pointed over his shoulder at the large, discarded candelabrum lying on the wood floor near the balcony. Tsukushi glared and crossed her arms.

"I thought you were a burglar," she replied haughtily. "But now I just see that you're completely drunk." A disappointed look dashed across her face almost too quickly for him to register as she turned around and quickly flipped on the light. She moved to walk back down the hall to the open door of her room when a large, strong hand landed on her shoulder. Rather than violently object, she just let her shoulder drop, hoping he would get the hint, and kept her eyes set ahead.

"There's a reason I didn't want you to be associated with me at school," Tsukasa managed at last, his deep, quiet voice startling her. Tsukushi slowly let her head turn and one eye watch him from the side. "Yes, I am the leader of the F4. It was something we started in elementary school." When he felt her tense to respond, he tightened his grip on her shoulder and she quieted just long enough for him to interrupt her coming strike. "I know you don't think highly of me, I didn't expect you to, but I'm not a good person. If you're going to live here, you're going to have to get used to it. It's my fun. It's what I do. Everyone at school has their role, and I have mine. I play my games and they play right along with me, because everyone else is just as malicious. People are bad, Tsukushi, and you can't let it surprise you when they act the way they are." With that final word, he turned her around by placing his other hand on her opposite shoulder and smiled when she faced him. He patted her on the head affectionately. "Good night."

Tsukasa left her standing in stunned silence as he walked with a tremulous step beside the railing and toward his room at the other end of the house. Tsukushi brushed back some of her hair, re-buttoned the top of her nightgown, then let out a long sigh and headed back to her own room as well for the night.

Tsukushi finally woke up sometime during her second class of the day. She realized a number of things as her consciousness finally, groggily, dragged itself up to reality: she hadn't seen Tsukasa that morning, she had only eaten half her breakfast, she hadn't said good-bye to Tama, and she still had no friends. Just as soon as she had seemed to jump into paying attention her head slumped back to her desk and she let out a quiet sigh. The girl, Makiko, had changed seats.

When the bell finally rang for the beginning of lunch, Tsukushi lethargically rose from her seat and packed her things into her briefcase without a single regard for time. She paused when she placed her history notebook inside; she pulled out her small, personal notebook and briefly flipped through it, pausing on the list she had created the night before. At the top of the list she read, "Find a job." As she finished packing up and said a polite good-bye to the teacher, she thought about the odd item while filing out with the last of the students into the hallway. She began making her way to her locker through the overwhelming throng like a fish swimming upstream.

Just as she began considering places to start looking, she found her passage suddenly cleared by a small group of boys, who were standing on either side of her. They had odd, slack-jawed expressions on their faces and were whispering to one another:

"That's Doumyouji-san's sister?"

"You better watch out."

"I don't see a resemblance."

"Go talk to her!"

Tsukushi's face began to color a flush pink as she desperately grabbed onto the bolt of her locker and jerked it open, hoping that she could hide herself inside of it as she switched her briefcase for her small bento. It seemed that the news about her had already spread like wildfire, for as she closed her locker and began to walk back toward the hall leading outside, students stared, murmured, and parted in a line for her so she could pass through.

At the moment she heard some unknown, female voice address her, "Doumyouji-san!" and another, "Doumyouji-senpai!" she began to walk faster, hoping by some chance she could escape the sudden, amassed attention and burst free from the back doors and into the uninhabited rear courtyard. However, her fantasy was greatly hindered when she heard and saw three tall, slim girls take up step beside her on both sides and behind. She was completely surrounded.

"Doumyouji-san," the first one crooned, her voice a lilting squeak, "we saw you today and just _knew_ we wanted to be the first to welcome you to Eitoku Gakuen!" Tsukushi finally looked up at the girl, almost jumping in both surprise and fright at the dark brunette's teased, horn-like bangs. Tsukushi gulped as another girl came up beside her, leaning over to speak and reeking of perfume.

"Yes, Doumyouji-san! We'd love to show you around," she added and smiled the broadest, most horridly white smile Tsukushi had ever seen. Just as the third girl--a curly-haired one that had come up uncomfortably close behind her--began to speak, Tsukushi waved both hands in a disarming way.

She flashed her friendliest smile and replied, "No, no, it's really okay, I know my way around already. I'm just running off to lunch, I can't be late, you know!" Tsukushi briefly held up her bento before the stuttering girls could respond and proceeded to trot quickly towards the nearest classroom door. She waved once more at the girls--the first shouted after her, "If you need anything, talk to me, Asai!"--and jerked open the door as quickly as she thought was physically possible. She slipped inside and, taking one last look back to see if they had gone, closed it behind her with an audible click.

Tsukushi nearly fled her skin when she heard a voice behind her. "Hello. Do you not feel well?" Her eyes jumped inside the room: it had the same whitewashed walls as the rest of the school, but various cupboards adorned the walls, a small bed lay against the window, and half of the elongated area was blocked off by a row of blue curtains. Sitting on a swiveling chair by the desk sat a tall, curly-haired woman in a long white coat.

"Um, hello... Is this the nurse's office?" she asked, and mentally smacked herself. Of course it was the nurse's office. She let out a sigh, but the woman only smiled and indicated to the bed a few feet away.

"You can sit down, if you'd like."

Something in the nurse's soft, light eyes and quietly persuading voice lured Tsukushi into doing just that, despite her lack of medical condition. The woman drew her chair up beside her and crossed her legs, clasping her hands and resting them on her knee. "Doumyouji-san, correct?"

Tsukushi flinched at the name for a moment before nodding in affirmation. The nurse looked contemplative before extending a hand to her and smiling. "Urara-sensei," the woman introduced herself. Tsukushi took her hand and found a firm and endearing handshake. She couldn't resist a returning smile. "Are you hiding from someone?"

At that, Tsukushi's face colored slightly and she briefly nodded her head while keeping both eyes on the floor. "You can come here whenever you'd like," the nurse placated her, "I enjoy the company every so often. Would you like to join me for lunch?" Without waiting for a response Urara moved backwards with her swivel chair and opened a drawer of the desk, carefully lifted out a bento box, and placed it down with a pair of chopsticks in hand.

When Tsukushi took out her own lunch, set it down on the bed beside her and the nurse smiled before removing the top of her box, she knew she had made her first friend.


	6. Job Hunt

NOTE: Yep. No more updates. I had this sitting around so I thought I'd post it. Meh.

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

6 - Job Hunt

It was half an hour after sundown and Tsukushi desperately wanted some dinner. She had no pocket money and no way to contact one of the many chauffeurs employed by the Doumyoujis.

Immediately after school Tsukushi had sought out the business district. The school wasn't too far from some of the larger parts of the city anyway, so she had decided to make a beeline there and had only told her ride back to the house to tell Tsukasa she would be out late. With that, she had proceeded to get completely and utterly lost in downtown Tokyo without a single clue as to how to get back to the Doumyouji mansion.

As she walked, she thought about how she would probably never be able to call that huge, unfeeling place home.

Tsukushi had had very little luck in finding a comfortable job with which to earn a substantial amount of pocket money in the large city, despite entire windows devoted to help wanted signs and other various advertisements. But the economy was in a slump, jobs were in low supply, and she was slowly realizing she couldn't be picky if she wanted any chance of finding something worthwhile.

She had a general idea of the _direction_ of the upper-class residential area, but whenever she went that way, she found herself face-to-face with something unpleasant like the never-ending fish market or--she had only read about it in books before--the red light district. At one point she had tried to walk back to the school in hopes she might be able to find her way from there, but she had been wandering in circles for far too long and had no real recollection of how to get there. Instead, Tsukushi found herself walking away from the business district and towards a line of food shops. For what reason she didn't know, but food was too appealing to resist even if she didn't have any money.

As she passed a ramen bar, her stomach growled unpleasantly and she had to avert her eyes as she continued to walk. She kept her head down and gaze focused on the sidewalk until she heard the sound of a door opening, accompanied by the wild ringing of tiny bells, and a girl laugh. Tsukushi watched as two girls, carrying cute, colorful pastry-like sweets, left a small dango shop. Her eyes were instantaneously drawn to a small blue sign on the window:

"Help wanted. High school students accepted and preferred. 1100 ¥ per hour."

Tsukushi paused at the door for a moment, reading the sign at least twice with slowly widening eyes, before pushing it open with a tinkle. It was a small, quiet shop, with paper lamps, a long glass display and black banners hanging from the ceiling. Behind the counter stood a cute girl, her light brown hair shoulder-length and curly, and her eyes wide and inviting. She smiled a broad smile and Tsukushi could only smile back.

"Welcome," the girl greeted, indicating to the display, "Take your time."

Tsukushi shook her head and waved one hand, replying, "Actually, I'm here about the position being offered." She turned and pointed to the window, where she could see the back of the blue paper taped to the glass. "I saw you were looking for help."

The girl's eyes immediately lit up as she regarded Tsukushi, and her voice was bright. "We sure are!" She grinned and ducked under the counter, removed a long, white application form and set it on the display. "Just fill this out and I'll give it to my supervisor."

Tsukushi felt a surge of empowerment as she took a pen and stared down at the form. Things were beginning to look up.

However, Tsukushi was still lost.

She had been so happy to give the girl at the counter her application and leave with a smile and a wave that Tsukushi hadn't even thought of asking if she could use the phone; after she had left and had that particular epiphany, the store was closed. It was now completely dark and no matter where she went, she had a lurking suspicion that she shouldn't be out and about.

Tsukushi was walking out of the business district and what she thought was back towards the school when she heard the soft tread of footsteps. They didn't sound to be directly behind her and she dismissed it as someone passing by in a direction where she couldn't see them; she rounded a corner, looking down a lighted street, and began to walk when she heard them once more. She swallowed but knew better than to panic, and instead kept the same pace as she headed off down the sidewalk. When the footsteps didn't falter she felt a bead of perspiration form on her forehead and she swallowed nervously. She sped up.

Whoever was following her did as well; she stopped. Slowly, keeping her movements calm, she turned with every intention of delivering a swift crotch kick, and saw Hanazawa Rui standing behind her with a soda in one hand and one eyebrow raised. Her foot was nearly three inches off the ground when he said in a rather bland voice, "So it _is_ you."

Tsukushi's jaw opened farther than she thought possible. Her eyes began to bulge as he took a step forward, as if to take a closer look, and gave her a flat look. Just as he opened his mouth to comment further, she burst out suddenly, "Why were you following me?!"

He looked taken aback but recovered quickly. His face showed nothing as he almost imperceptibly shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his soda. "I wasn't following. I saw you and wasn't sure if it was you or not. I figured you would turn around eventually."

It was the most unintelligent response she had ever heard, and Tsukushi's face slowly started to turn red as her hand balled into a fist at her side. "You don't just follow random people if they look like someone you know!" she hissed, "At least _ask_ them! You scared me." For a moment, Rui looked apologetic; but then he shrugged his shoulders again and turned around, walking away without another word.

"Excuse me!" she shouted. He stopped and barely turned his head enough to look at her. She was about to yell something further when he blinked his marble-like gray eyes and smiled.

"You don't have to be so loud," Rui said at last, turning all the way back around. To her chagrin he took another long--but hardly substantial--sip and then proceeded to yawn. "Why are you wandering around this late at night?"

Tsukushi furrowed her brow in annoyance. "I was just looking for a job," she replied without a thought, giving him the most sour look she could muster as she tried to avoid looking directly into his eyes. But he continued to stare at her in silence, and she shivered, feeling as if he were probing her with his gaze.

"Ah." There was a pause. "You're lost, aren't you."

It was a statement, not a question.

Immediately, Tsukushi jumped onto the defensive, glaring at the nonchalant boy standing in front of her. "What's it to you?" she demanded, her hands finding her hips. "I'm finding my way back just fine!" It was obvious he didn't believe a word she said, but he didn't say anything and shrugged both shoulders.

"Okay. Bye, then." She hoped that, if he would only stop looking at her, the butterflies that had suddenly started tormenting her stomach would disappear. He took a few steps away when he paused and added, "Well, since it's a long way to walk back, my chauffeur can give you a ride home, if you like."

It was eight o'clock when Tsukushi opened the front door, where she removed her shoes and walked across the large entryway to the stairs. The thought of food occurred to her, but she really just wanted to go to her room, set down her briefcase and rest her feet for a few lingering moments. It had been an excruciatingly long day. She put one hand on the railing and let out a long yawn, then took the first two stairs before she heard someone clearing his throat above her.

Tsukasa stood at the top of the stairs, leaning casually on the railing, and looked down at her with eyes that reminded her of a lazy snake. His lip was curved with annoyance and his posture was much more tense than it appeared at first; he was obviously irritated about something.

"Good of you to finally come home," he growled, his body not moving an inch. She shrugged.

"I got lost."

Tsukasa's eyes widened. "Lost? How on earth could you get lost? What happened to your ride home from school?"

Tsukushi huffed then, only causing his look of angry surprise to become more intense. "I have a life too, you know. I went... into town." For some reason, she didn't feel inclined to mention her run-in with Hanazawa Rui. Or how he had given her a ride home.

Or how she hadn't been able to stop staring at his gray, marble eyes, or how he had sat in complete silence without making her feel uncomfortable in the least. Instead, she settled for glaring at Tsukasa and asking, "What business is it of yours?"

Tsukasa opened his mouth to argue, but instead he threw his arms into the air in surrender. Without another word he turned around and stalked off across the balcony to the hallway just adjacent. As she finished coming up the stairs and went to her own room, she heard him shout, "The cook's here until nine!"

Tsukushi laughed and opened her door, closing it with a resounding slam behind her. Just for effect.

Hanazawa Rui sat in the back of the car as his chauffer drove away from the Doumyouji house, his soda most of the way to his mouth for another sip. He paused and blinked with a sudden realization, his hand stilling, and his gray eyes grew wide just before his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Why is a Doumyouji looking for a job?"


	7. A Small Glimmer in the Dark

NOTE: I wrote about the first third of the story, but never proceeded past that. I may work on it again soon, but I have a few dozen chapters for you all until I reach that point. Enjoy.

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

7 – A Small Glimmer in the Dark

Tsukushi's second day of school was nearly as unpleasant as her first. Upon entering her home room, her three stalkers from the day before approached her at her desk. She held her breath and set her briefcase on her desk, looking frantically back at where the girl, Makiko, had changed seats to. When their eyes met, the other girl hastily sank lower in her seat. Tsukushi sighed and looked at the tallest girl, whose bangs were held stiff in a bizarre, horn-like hairdo. She swallowed.

"Doumyouji-san," they crooned in unison and her skin erupted in goose bumps. The curly-haired girl hastily pushed between her friends.

"I'm Ayuhara Eriko," she squeaked. "I'm so glad to meet you!" Tsukushi only sat dumbly as the girl was shoved aside by her taller friend.

"I'm Asai Yuriko, and—" The ring of the first bell interrupted her, and the three girls hastily said their good-byes and took their seats—one to her left and two to her right. Tsukushi inwardly groaned. It was going to be a really long day, she thought, as she opened her books and sighed.

After class Tsukushi dragged herself out of the room, trying in vain to ignore the large groups of students staring and pointing at her, talking animatedly, with a few introducing themselves. Most seemed afraid of her, though, and this only made her feel worse. When she reached her locker she wondered if she could somehow hide inside of it. How her brother could stand all the attention, she didn't know.

Tsukushi took out her bento box and wondered if Urara-sensei would be in her room. The day before she had enjoyed talking with the woman, finding her understanding and receptive, and she hoped she could spend at least one more day hiding out.

She hit her head on her open locker door in surprise when she heard a voice beside her say, "Hello." Recovering quickly, Tsukushi rubbed her head and turned to see the Makiko girl standing next to her. Tsukushi found herself gaping like a fish.

"He-hello," she replied, not quite understanding why the same person who had seemed so repulsed by her was suddenly approaching her outside of class. She raised her eyebrows and held her bento box with both hands.

Makiko blushed and crossed her hands behind her back. "I'm sorry about the other day. It's just, well..." she glanced at Tsukushi, looking for a reaction, and saw only wide-eyed interest. "Well, I'm sure you know the reputation of the F4, and I just really can't afford to be driven out of school..." Makiko immediately looked alarmed, as if Tsukushi would reach out and bite her.

Tsukushi laughed. "Is that it?" Makiko blinked at her, and she giggled again, and stopped to smile at the other girl. "Don't worry. I can't believe him and all of his racket! Don't you think it's ridiculous?" Tsukushi closed her locker. "The Flowery Four—could it sound any sillier?"

Makiko looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Are you all right?" Tsukushi asked. The girl seemed to have regained her wits and cleared her throat.

"N-no, it's just, no one dares to talk about them that way," she said quietly. With another laugh Tsukushi held out her bento box.

"That's because no one has the guts!" she chuckled. Makiko's smile made her feel much more confident, and Tsukushi asked her, "Do you want to eat lunch with me?"

Makiko raised her eyebrows and hastily nodded. "I'd like that," she said. The two stared at each other and then laughed, walking off towards the courtyards together, bento boxes in hand.

Tsukasa immediately looked up when he heard Tsukushi's laugh on the air. He raised one eyebrow when he saw her walking side-by-side with another girl and the two were laughing gaily. Sakurako was oblivious as she ate her lunch, but Akira followed his gaze and moved to stand up. Tsukasa quickly pulled him back down and everyone stared at him.

"Wasn't that your sister?" Akira asked, wiping off his sleeve where he had been grabbed. Tsukasa made an annoyed sound.

"Yeah. Looks like she found some little friend," he mumbled. He wasn't quite sure what he was upset about—it was good she had found someone at school, for Eitoku could be cruel and lonely to some, and he certainly didn't want her around his lecherous friends or being grouped with them. At the same time, though, he was in a way disappointed she hadn't come to him. She managed to be so independent despite the fact she was living in a world she had just been tossed in to.

Rui raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Hm. Good for her," he commented in a dry tone.

"Well, I think she should sit with us," Akira told Tsukasa, drinking some tea from a bottle. "We're much cooler than some girl friend of hers."

"Hey, shut up," Tsukasa snapped. Sakurako jumped, spilling her drink and letting out a simultaneous whine as it fell. "Leave her alone." Akira shrugged.

"No need to jump on me," he replied calmly.

Soujiro nodded and raised one finger, saying, "I don't see why we can't say hello," and giving Tsukasa a pointed look. Sakurako whimpered as she noticed a stain on her dress and padded it with a napkin. Tsukasa was too distracted to be annoyed at her.

"Just leave her alone." The conversation was abruptly ended with Rui sucking on his paper soda drink with a resounding slurp.

Anyone would be unsettled by her entire class staring at her when she answered a question correctly, Tsukushi thought to herself as she found her way out of the stifling building. As soon as the bell rang she had scrambled out as fast as she could into the open air. She had found her way to the emergency stairway, and she leaned over the edge to take a deep breath. "Ridiculous!" she cried. "Rich people are ridiculous!" Her voice echoed in the empty courtyard.

She fell back and leaned against the wall beside the door to recompose herself. There was a palpable relief and she relished it, momentarily rejuvenating the hopes she had left Hiroshima with. Maybe there was something for her here, she thought, as she reminded herself to stop by the small dango shop and ask about her application there. With some pocket money Tsukushi decided she could take herself out and find some new friends—she knew without them, suffocation by isolation was imminent. She had heard there was an all-girls school that often competed with Eitoku; maybe she could find some friends there, or even transfer. She sighed.

Her positive resolve to do well and stay spirited was already dissolving and it was merely her second day. She had found one friend among the throng, but it was difficult to move about with people constantly watching her, talking to her, and ogling her. It confounded Tsukushi because she was nothing to look at; she had never had that kind of attention before and she had no desire to deal with it—so she ran out to the emergency exit stairs.

It was a quiet kind of place, and as she slid down the wall to sit, she decided she liked it. It seemed secluded enough and isolated to boot—perhaps she'd come here more often. She dropped her books into her lap and sighed.

Tsukushi nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard steps on the stairs. She immediately recognized the boy approaching as Hanazawa Rui, one of her brother's delinquent compatriots. He was the rude, dazed-looking one, she remembered vaguely as he stopped in front of her, only half-turning his head to glance down. "Ah. Hello." He probably didn't even remember stalking her the night before. It still bothered her. He did look rather uncared for, with shaggy hair and trousers that were 'stylishly' ripped at the knees. She thought the oversized tennis shoes were rather tactless.

"Um, hello," she replied with a nervous quiver in her tone. Having obtained a response—and showing no reaction—he moved past her and opened the door, leaving inside the building. Tsukushi jolted a little as the door fell closed with a slam behind him.

For some moments she didn't move, stuck between alarmed and annoyed that someone else had been there. She thought for a while about her brother and his obnoxious friends; "What a bunch of goons!" she exclaimed. She thought of that girl Sakurako: she seemed the quiet, clingy type—but Tsukushi sensed there was far more to her. Then there was the fact all three of them joined in Tsukasa's awful antics, haranguing the school with their games and their power. She had never liked the idea of adopting the Doumyouji name, but now she thought she hated it more than ever. It was a cruel trick to play on her.

Now all Tsukushi wanted was to get on her train, go back to Hiroshima and return to the house she lived in with Kazuya and his parents: there, she was loved, she had friends, and she was happy.

Tsukushi sighed when she walked into the huge mansion to find it mostly empty. Tsubaki had left rather quietly the night of Tsukushi's first day at school with a hasty farewell to both of them. She was going to return soon, as her husband would be attending a follow-up to wherever he had vacationed on business. She called it vacationing, anyway, because he always called her telling her how warm and beautiful it was in the places he found himself. With her sister gone and her brother continually out with his friends, she wondered how often she would come home only to sit in the lobby with her books and very little else to entertain her.

However, that day she did have the chauffer stop at the dango shop, where the girl working there introduced herself and Tsukushi knew she had gotten the job. Matsuoka Yuuki, she said, and Tsukushi saw a few lights springing up in her future. First, she decided, she was going to learn the public transportation system around Tokyo—then she would have the inane pleasure of telling the chauffer, "No need, no need." It was a powerful goal.

That night, however, Tsukasa came home after a rather long night at the club to find his sister sleeping fitfully on top of a notebook full of math homework. A cough forced its way free as he stopped from laughing; she snored again and he nearly doubled over. It was ten o'clock when he lightly touched her shoulder, shaking her a little as she stumbled back into consciousness. "Hum, function..." she slowly opened her eyes and blinked the sleep from them. "Where am I?"

"In the lobby, though I can't possibly rationalize as to why." When Tsukushi blinked up at him he laughed. "I can't believe you fell asleep doing homework." He pointed at a long, red mark along her face in the shape of short lines. He chuckled again.

"Me neither," she replied drowsily and stood up, collecting her things and returning them to her briefcase. With a yawn she said, "Well, goodnight." She hardly bothered to glance at him when she hiked up her bag so she supported it with her shoulder and left up the stairs.

"Wait a second!" Tsukasa called after her. She paused and glanced down at him. "Are you doing anything tomorrow after school?"

She blinked at him, her initial response forming into, No, nothing, why would I? But then she remembered the hours Matsuoka had given her and shook her head. "Sorry, I'm busy." Some strange part of her wanted him to be crestfallen that she couldn't go out with him and his friends, or whatever thing he wanted her to do. Tsukushi just sighed when he nodded rather unemotionally.

"All right, maybe some other time." They were so genial with one another already, boringly so; she sighed to think that every day would pass like this one, merely tolerating one another. Tsukushi stopped on the stairs as he turned to walk away towards the dining room.

"Tsukasa?" He stopped mid-stride. "I want to like it here. I do. Please help me." Not wanting to wait for a response, she continued up the stairs. She heard his footsteps on the bottom of the steps.

"How about you sit with us, then," Tsukasa called to her, and she turned around to look at him as he continued, taking a step up the stair, "tomorrow at lunch. Get to know them, they'll like you."

A little step closer to something in common, she smiled and nodded at him. "I'll see you tomorrow."


	8. Deadly Smile

I really hate this quickedit nonsense. I can't upload the chapters the way they were intended to look. This is crap.**  
**

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

8 – Deadly Smile

Tsukasa was, in fact, quite worried about any sort of close contact between his two playboy friends and his unmarred younger sister. He honestly wanted her to find her own friends, somehow make them forget she was a Doumyouji, and not bother to associate with him; but it was not to be. He could tell she was having trouble and he had discovered that some times, Akira and Soujiro were the best medicine.

However, that day was not shaping up to be a pleasant one.

Tsukasa knew he was an angry person: he relied on his unpredictable and explosive personality to keep people at a distance from him. He didn't like them, and he worked diligently to be isolated—though his ideals were consistent in backfiring on him.

So he returned to his slow fume, sitting alone on a bench with his head in his palms, watching, waiting for the most unfortunate person of the day to walk past.

When Tsukushi saw her brother standing taller than she'd ever seen him she immediately thought of the strange girl, who had shown her around her first day and clung to Tsukasa like a red-headed leech. She momentarily thought it rude to think that way—but the horde of spoiled, rich, Eitoku girls always rubbed her the wrong way. That morning she had heard of some conflict between Tsukasa and his girlfriend; no one could be sure what, but seeing him shouting obscenities at some poor boy, she thought it must have been serious.

"Tsukasa," she called, immediately halting the one-sided argument. The boy fled like a rabbit when Tsukasa's attention was diverted. She jogged over, carefully noting his irate expression.

"What do you want?" he growled at her. Tsukushi was surprised when she stopped to tell herself, he wouldn't excite himself over a flimsy girl. She knew one could never say those kinds of things, she was reminded, you never knew if they were true.

She laughed at him in an attempt to diffuse some of his temper. "I just wanted to see what you were up to. It seemed like no good." Her brother's tight lips and narrowed brows didn't flinch. "Well, anyway, I came to meet you for lunch like you asked."

Tsukasa shrugged his shoulders, looking away. "They'll all be here, eventually." Deciding to ignore his foul mood Tsukushi sat down on the bench and put her lunch on her lap. She had taken it upon herself after her first day—when she hadn't brought any lunch and didn't know how to get it—to find everything in the kitchen and make her own bento. Looking at her variety of rich, expensive ingredients, she had quietly requested some more familiar items; the cook looked at her with raised eyebrows. "That fish? It's a commoner fish."

"It's the one I like," she had told him.

She happily ate her grilled saury, and thought for a moment of her mother. She always cooked this fish the best, she recalled, and never spared the fat which tasted the best. Tsukasa watched her from the corner of his eye as she savored her food. The day had started pleasantly when he remembered their conversation the night before: Tsukushi always wanted to try, always wanted to do what she could to be happiest. But when Sakurako had told him, "You should kiss me," he felt everything crumble.

"Kiss you? Kiss that dirty mouth?" he hissed. She had tightened her fingers on him so her nails dug into his skin through his sleeve.

"You better, or I'll tell everyone." He pushed her off.

"Don't touch me!" he shouted at her. Everyone turned to stare at them when he walked off, and he heard her faking sobs as he left.

Tsukushi glanced up as Tsukasa sat down beside her, shoulders slumped. Without any words she reached out a hand and rubbed his back in small circles. "If you need someone to tell about it, I'm three rooms over." He nodded almost imperceptibly.

* * *

Akira hadn't walked onto campus until lunchtime. He had been having the night of his life, enjoying the company of one of his most favorite lady friends—a wonderful, sophisticated woman of thirty-five, he liked those kinds—when the husband came home. It was a rare time that Akira found himself crawling out the back window, but when he did, he was glad for his exceptional level of fitness. He had spent the morning with her to make up lost time. 

Coming to the patch of grass where the F4 always met, he stopped at what he saw. Tsukasa sat on the bench with his head in his hands, slumped over like a man defeated. Sometimes, Akira saw him that way when Tsukasa thought no one was watching. Tsukushi leant over, lunchbox in hand, and spoke quietly in his ear as she stroked his back. They looked so comfortable together, Akira wondered where this strange girl had been hiding for so long. She was a good thing, he could see, even if he hardly knew her. When he walked up to them, he thought she was a little cute, in a strange sort of way.

"Yo," he greeted, taking a seat on the grass and dropping a jug of juice in front of him. The girl looked at him impassively.

"Um, hello." She stood up, giving Tsukasa one last pat on the shoulder as she left and knelt on the grass. She looked at him, curiously; from the first time he had seen her with her violent outburst, he thought she would look at him with such judgment—but she only offered him a tentative, friendly smile. "Mimasaka-san, right?" She even remembered his name.

He smiled one of his trademark smiles, the one that made women clutch their chests and twitter like birds. "Correct me if I'm wrong, you are Tsukushi?" She nodded. "Interesting name."

Akira hadn't expected her to laugh, much less to say, "I know—what can I say, I'm just a weed." He raised his eyebrows and she grinned at him. "You know what power a weed has, right?"

He shook his head. She told him, closing her eyes and speaking loudly, "A weed can grow anywhere, it always survives. They're the strongest, most resilient, and they never need some greenhouse to live."

Akira couldn't help but chuckle at the odd girl. "Funny," he replied, "I never thought of it that way." He was beginning to like her all ready. She snapped her chopsticks at him definitively and ate another strange food from her boxed lunch.

Soujiro saw two things wrong: the first was Sakurako's absence; the second was the presence of Tsukasa's sister, who seemed to be chatting merrily with Akira like they were old friends. It was suspicious. Tsukasa was sulking on the bench.

"Hello fair ladies," he greeted the two sitting on the grass, swiping his hand through Akira's long hair when his friend glared at him. "To what do I owe the honor of your presence?" he asked Tsukushi. She seemed less than friendly when she replied to him, "Nothing, Nishikado-san, and it is rude to call someone fair who most certainly is not." Though it was hardly venomous, he felt humbled by her stare and stern voice. He brushed off his discomfort with a laugh. "Sure," he chuckled.

The three of them talked for some time, Soujiro and Akira joking to one another of the previous night's exploits. At some point Tsukasa joined them, but he put his elbows on his knees and kept his eyes fixed on the ground silently.

"You're dating a married woman?" Tsukushi gaped. Akira nodded and flicked some of his hair over his shoulder.

"They're the finest, you know," he told her, "they're not insecure and fake like teenage girls, and they certainly know their way around in bed." Tsukushi looked astonished and pale.

"Akira," Soujiro scolded him jokingly, "look, you've disturbed her." Eventually he asked, "I wonder where Rui is today?"

"He probably forgot to wake up. Maybe we'll see him tonight," Akira replied.

"Maybe. We need to get that boy a daytimer."

Tsukushi raised her eyebrows, asking, "Forgot to wake up?"

"Oh yes," Soujiro laughed, "of all life's activities, Rui loves sleeping the most. Sometimes he'll just forget to get up and we won't see him for two days." Both men snorted and traded handshakes at their cleverness.

"How lazy," Tsukushi murmured, almost scornfully. Akira and Soujiro exchanged looks. "Rich people really do waste time." She looked at her watch and quickly stood up. "Well, it's time for class." Without saying anything more she picked up her briefcase and empty box, walking off in the direction of the school before either of them could respond.

"Rather sensitive," Soujiro commented.

Akira shrugged his shoulders and took a sip from the glass jug. "She's just not used to people who aren't common," Tsukasa spoke up.

"Or she just doesn't like Rui very much," Akira replied. "I suppose I wouldn't either, if I didn't know him." Soujiro shrugged, and lightly punched Tsukasa in the arm.

"Hey, we're going out of town for the night to find a new haunt," he said.

"Whatever," was Tsukasa's only reply. Soujiro had heard of some conflict between Tsukasa and Sakurako, but it didn't seem like anything to get him down. He didn't pry, and so they sat in silence.

* * *

Tsukushi wandered out again that afternoon to the emergency exit to recover her breath. She had come to the conclusion that merely creating a brick wall was the solution to her problems: when the girls talked to her, she would nod and smile, but never replied; it didn't matter if they thought maybe she was deaf or stupid. She sat by Makiko now and they were quickly becoming fast friends. 

She leaned on the wall and crossed her legs. "What a mindless group," she murmured to herself. She raised her voice in imitation and squeaked out, "Oh! Look at my new Chanel bag! I got it for my birthday." Tsukushi sighed. "What a joke. How could anyone like this place?"

"No one really does, I don't think," she heard a familiar voice say. Tsukushi stopped herself from starting in surprise; she wouldn't dignify him with that sort of response. The arrogance of this man was as obnoxious—if not more so—as her brother. She slowly turned to look at him.

Rui stood beside her, having silently come up to lean on the wall a few feet to her right. She said nothing and kept her eyes ahead. "If you don't like it, why don't you go somewhere else?" At this, Tsukushi felt her face flush with anger.

"You don't know anything," she told him, her voice loud, "you're just a pampered rich kid. But if I'm going to do something, I'm going to make it work. If I went somewhere else I would be just as lost, if not more so, than I am here." She gripped the wall to not lash out. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Then he did something most unexpected: he laughed. Tsukushi turned to stare at him. "Persistent girl," he said—then smiled. It was a great smile; an incredible smile. She nearly choked. A villain never had a smile like that, she thought wildly as she held onto the wall for support.

"Erm, well, I have to go now," she managed out. The smile had passed and he was looking away now.

"Bye," he said blandly.

"Bye, Hanazawa—uh—Rui."

Once Tsukushi was inside the building she had recovered some of her wits. She took her bag and walked out the front doors of the school, managing past the various crowds as she went. What had she thought, reacting that way? He was the worst of them, she thought, the worst of the worst. Even that lady killer Akira was better than Hanazawa Rui.

But she couldn't stop thinking about it all the way to her job. She had told the chauffer where to pick her up and when, then found her way to the place on her own. It was relieving to walk in the front door and be recognized by the girl standing at the counter.

"Makino Tsukushi?" she greeted. Tsukushi nodded with a smile. She had opted to use her original name to avoid any unwanted attention by her employers.

"I'm ready to work, Matsuoka-san."

The other girl smiled at her and said, "You can call me Yuuki."


	9. The Great Ignoramus

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

9 – The Great Ignoramus

It was Tsukushi's fourth day of school—she walked onto campus with the thought, "Just tomorrow, and then I'll have the weekend." It was a positive outlook, she thought.

Strangely, there wasn't a single person around. She knew she wasn't late, she had seen the clock in the car; so where had everyone gone? She saw another boy walking back from the school and ran up to him. "Where is everyone?" she asked. He seemed afraid to talk to her at first, but she looked at him earnestly.

"There's a b-big fight in the cafeteria," he coughed out.

"Who is it?"

"Y-your brother—a-and the girl." It was general, but she got the idea.

"Thanks!" she told him, and ran off. The boy looked like he'd seen a ghost.

Sure enough, there was a large crowd gathered around the building. Tsukushi tried at first to squeeze by, but most people ignored her; finally, she grabbed a senior boy by his shirt collar and stared at him. He jumped when he recognized her.

"Doumyouji-san!" he managed out.

"Help me get through here," she insisted, and he quickly nodded and elbowed a group of guys in front of him. After some deliberation they parted and she thanked them profusely, scrambling her way through until she stood just behind the front row. She immediately heard her brother's voice booming in the large, high-ceiling room.

"You can't really do anything," he was saying. Akira and Soujiro stood off to one side looking alarmed, and Rui was actually sitting down some way away. It was morning still, so no one had been eating. It seemed like at least a quarter of the school was assembled to watch. The victim of Tsukasa's rage was Sakurako, who stood with her hands behind her back and tears streaming down her face. "You're just a whore. I'm not going to give you anything any more, no one will listen to you." People cheered.

Tsukushi was horrified and embarrassed. It didn't matter what Sakurako had done, she couldn't possibly deserve the words he was giving her.

"Doumyouji Tsukasa!" Every head in the room turned to stare as she walked out from the crowd and into the bizarre circle that had been created around the entire affair. He watched her with wide eyes as she walked up to him. "What on earth is going on here?"

"She..." he didn't finish; Tsukushi slapped him across the face.

"I don't care what it is!" she shouted as he clutched his reddened cheek, staring at her with first astonished, then flaming eyes. "You continue to astound me with your horridness!" Turning, she walked over to the crying Sakurako and lightly put her hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"You...!" Tsukasa growled at her. She spun.

"What?" she exclaimed. "What! Don't even start with me, Tsukasa. There's nothing this girl could have done to deserve that."

"What do you know?" he fired back. His cheek still stung bright red; she could see it. "You don't know anything!"

"I know enough!" Tsukushi tried to calm herself a little. "Leave her alone." Without saying anything more, she took Sakurako lightly by the arm and said to her, "Come on, let's go." The girl only nodded her head and the crowd parted for them as they walked to the ladies' bathrooms.

Once there, Tsukushi put Sakurako in front of the mirror and began to dry her face with a tissue. "Don't mind him," she said, "he's too backwards for his own good." Sakurako only nodded when Tsukushi fixed some of her wavy, red hair. "You have to know when you're better than he is, and walk away." She laughed.

"Thank you," she said quietly. She really didn't seem to be that bad of a girl, Tsukushi thought to herself. She was very demure, and charming with her large grey eyes and soft, silky voice—Tsukushi smiled as she patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it."

Sakurako nodded and looked at her, then said, "I don't really know what happened. I... I asked him to kiss me yesterday," she said. She was blushing. "He... he didn't want to... I don't know what to do. I love him, but I don't think he loves me at all."

Tsukushi shook her head with a sigh. "Sometimes it seems like he doesn't have feelings at all," she admitted, then said with a laugh, "so try not to worry about it." Sakurako smiled and nodded.

"Thank you for helping me," she said.

"No problem."

Tsukushi had nothing to say to Tsukasa. He passed her in the hallway once, and only gave her a withering scowl; she took it in stride and stared right back. She certainly hadn't done anything wrong, and she was appalled that Doumyouji Tsukasa was so deficient at treating women. She had momentarily considered tripping him as he walked by.

She avoided the emergency exit that day—Tsukushi didn't want to run into that obnoxious Hanazawa Rui again. Instead, she ate lunch with Makiko in the library and left early to take a walk to the eastern courtyard.

This was one of her favorite places to walk through on campus. The rose hedges perfumed the small area and the small pond gave an atmosphere that reminded her so much of home in the middle of this silly place. Walking there, Tsukushi was surprised to hear a violin playing a solemn tune, which filtered from one of the high, wooden arches that lined the hedge. Curious—and allured by the somber melody—she peered through the archway.

Rui sat, relaxed, concentrated, on one of the benches. Tsukushi's throat tightened at the calm of his face, a passivity deeply betrayed by the bitter voice of the violin which he played. She moved to step back out of the courtyard, somewhat perturbed by the beautiful music created by a person she found so disagreeable, but her foot caught on a rock and sent it skittering across the brick path. Immediately the music stopped and Rui slowly raised his eyes to stare at her.

Without another thought she turned and ran the direction she had come.

Tsukushi stopped once she reached the school gates. She leant over to regain her breath and dropped her briefcase on the ground in front of her as she held onto her knees. She couldn't understand why she had run; it was silliness. She remembered Tsukasa telling her once, when he played the piano for her one day, every sophisticated person should be able to play at least one instrument. There was no reason to be surprised.

But as Tsukushi walked off the school campus, her briefcase over her shoulder and her eyes on her feet, she thought of how honest his music was—how strongly it sang. Lost in her musings she was sent to her feet when she bumped into another unfortunate wayfarer.

"I'm sorry!" she said apologetically as she struggled to get to her feet. A hand reached down to help her up; she blinked, and lifted her eyes to see Mimasaka Akira standing over her, looking no worse for the wear.

"No harm done," he joked, taking her hand when she was too stricken to notice the one he proffered to her. She nearly stumbled again when he brought her to her feet, though she looked rather wobbly. "Are you all right?"

Tsukushi quickly disengaged her hand from his and nodded, taking a step back so she could look at him properly. "Yes, I think so," she said, despite the scratches he saw on her bare legs.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "You might want to put some gauze on those."

She sounded a little dazed when she assured him with, "No, no, I'm fine. I'll take care of it later." She rubbed one eye with her hand.

Akira raised one eyebrow. "Well, are you going home? I can give you a ride, if you'd like," he offered, feeling a little responsible for not paying attention to where he was walking. Normally he wouldn't have minded—or minded that someone else had bumped into him, but when she waved a hand at him and brushed some hair from her face, he thought she seemed a little out of sorts. "Tsukushi?" She blinked when she heard her name.

"Ah, sorry, Mimasaka-san," Tsukushi said at last, smiling at him. "I wasn't paying attention. I decided to walk today, I'm on my way somewhere." Akira raised his eyebrows. He had never known a girl to voluntarily walk any distance. However, looking at her, he realized she wasn't really like any girl he was used to.

"Well, if you insist," he said, chuckling, "I'll have to let you go. But there will be a next time!" They both laughed.

"Good-bye, Mimasaka-san," she said, waving as she walked towards the gates. He called after her, "You can call me Akira!"

Tsukushi laughed and replied, "Thank you, Mimasaka-san!" With that, she dashed around the corner and was gone.

Strange girl, he thought with a laugh, as he went to meet Rui in the courtyard.


	10. Adaptation

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

10 – Adaptation

"So tell me a little about yourself," Yuuki said conversationally. The two were putting brightly colored dango in the front of the display to attract the younger children who came in during the after school hours. Tsukushi paused after she put away her empty metal tray and prongs.

"Well, there's not much to know. I live with my brother," she said, thoughtfully tapping her chin, "and I go to the worst kind of school—Eitoku, do you know it?"

Yuuki blinked at her. "Do I ever!" she exclaimed. Tsukushi nearly jumped. "That's a real rich school. You can afford to go there?"

Tsukushi laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "No, not really. I actually lived in Hiroshima for a while with... my cousin. But his father was transferred to London, so I had to come live out here with my brother." She sighed. "I'm only going to Eitoku because his—er, our mother wants me to."

"Wow," Yuuki murmured.

"Yeah," Tsukushi drummed her fingers on the glass display counter. "I'm not used to this life. Eitoku is a really strange school, too. Every one is rich and snobbish." She laughed. "But there are some good people, a few. You have to look hard for them, though."

Yuuki nodded and smiled at her. "I can imagine. I wouldn't know how to act around them."

"I don't!" Tsukushi said dramatically. Yuuki giggled. "They're so prim and proper on the outside, but on the inside, they're worse than riff raff."

"Where do you go to school?" Tsukushi asked.

Yuuki shrugged. "It's a regular school, near my house. It's nice, though, because all the people there I've known since elementary."

"Ah!" Tsukushi grinned at her, "My school in Hiroshima was like that. We had such good times there together." She sighed then.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Yuuki asked. However, they were interrupted when the bell rang and the door opened.

"Welcome!" both girls said in unison. They looked at one another, and laughed. Maybe there is some good here, Tsukushi thought, and Yuuki grinned at her.

* * *

Tsukasa walked onto school grounds early Friday morning, his hands in his pockets and his eyebrows drawn. Though he couldn't be sure if Tsukushi had outright avoided him the night before, she certainly had managed to escape him. She was gone all afternoon and early evening, Tama told him, and when she came home she had eaten and then left for her bedroom, asking not to be disturbed. By the time he had found his way upstairs and peered in her door, she was sleeping fitfully.

He stopped and sighed, clenching his fists in his pockets. It infuriated him, the bind he was in; she would—no, she _could_ never understand his dilemma. Her words had stung him more than her mere slap ever had the opportunity to. She didn't know anything! Tsukasa growled. He was at a dead end with nowhere to go, and it frustrated him; he always spoke his mind, and having to keep his tongue at bay was more difficult than anything he could have imagined.

Tsukasa nearly burst when he saw Tsukushi chatting merrily with Akira as they walked by on the other end of the main path into the school and neither of them noticed him. "I still can't believe you crawled out a window!"

"Oh, I've done it a few times—once I was naked, even!"

"That's simply awful!" Despite her revulsion, Tsukushi laughed.

Tsukasa restrained himself from walking over and telling her everything; the desire dissipated when she and his friend disappeared behind a building. They looked rather chummy, he thought with a grimace. The last thing she needed was a playboy like Akira toying with her. He sighed and left to the main entrance, deciding it would be better to escape to the F4's hallway before he had any unwanted run-ins with Sakurako. At the moment, simply avoiding her was his optimal solution; however, he knew he would invariably be forced to confront her and deal with her once and for all.

Despite his undoubted promiscuity (he often tried to deny it, saying, "But I do love them, even if they are already married!"), Akira was a fair conversationalist and had a good sense of humor to boot. Tsukushi found herself running into him for the second time and he had her smiling in mere seconds. He was the only good thing she saw in the lot of them, with their street clothes and complete irreverence towards their educations. Though she thought that it might have to do with the fact she'd finished her homework early the night before and gone to bed much earlier than usual, so she woke up refreshed and energized.

The day was looking brighter as it went; she left for class and found her seat, taking out her things and waving to Makiko as she came in. They talked and laughed, and Tsukushi felt gratified when her three obnoxious stalkers left her alone and went about their own business.

"How's your job?" Makiko asked.

"It's wonderful, I work with a nice girl and I get paid well for just selling sweet dumplings." She laughed. "It's good work."

Tsukushi was ahead of the game: she stopped by the nurse's office with her lunch and Urara-sensei ushered her in. She found out the older woman was very intelligent and philosophical; on all her problems, she always had something wise to say.

"I don't know what to do about Tsukasa," Tsukushi said with a sigh, "he's always saying such ridiculous things. How horrible I would feel if he had told me everything he told poor Sakurako."

"Well," Urara-sensei said thoughtfully, holding her chopsticks apart, "did you hear the whole conversation?"

Tsukushi furrowed her brow. "Well, no, I guess not... but she couldn't have done something to deserve that kind of language."

Urara-sensei shook her head and told her, "Never jump to conclusions. Though your actions may be justified to you, you cannot judge him until you've heard everything." Tsukushi sighed.

"I suppose you're right. Still, I wish he would talk to me about it. Then maybe it wouldn't have happened at all. He's so irrational!" She put her bento down on the table. "He's always treating other people so poorly; I couldn't just stand idly while he told off some poor girl."

Urara nodded her head and smiled. "You've got your heart in the right place."

Tsukushi pondered the nurse's words as she left the building and, without thinking about it, found herself at the emergency exit. She only leaned on the wall and propped her head up with one hand when she saw Rui sitting on the stairs through the corner of her eye. Neither said a word for some time, when she finally turned around and came to sit at the top of the stairs, slightly above him but at eye level.

"So," she addressed him. "You play violin." Tsukushi wasn't going to mention her flight the day before. It was Friday, she reminded herself. The weekend starts, don't ruin it. Don't ruin this good day for me, Hanazawa Rui, she thought.

"Yeah."

"What song was it you played yesterday?"

"Just something I made up." They were quiet for some time before Tsukushi said, "You play well." She covered her mouth instantly; she hadn't meant to say that. Whether it was true or not wasn't an issue, it was that she didn't want him believing for any amount of time that she liked any part of him.

"I guess," he replied quietly, non-committed. He hardly bothered to look at her.

Suddenly, she stood up. "You know, Hanazawa Rui," she said, leaning down. He looked at her then, and she tightened her lips and narrowed her eyes. "I hope I never have to talk to you again. I find you to be a very unpleasant person." With that, Tsukushi turned and walked to the door leading back into the school. She was pulling it open when he said, "Does that mean you aren't coming here any more?"

"If I have to do that to avoid you, then yes," she replied, rather impassively.

"So be it," he said. She opened the door once more and almost let it go to slam on her fingers when he said, "Though I do rather enjoy your imitations."

Unable to respond, Tsukushi went inside and the door closed loudly behind her. Rui held his hand to his mouth and laughed.

* * *

It was only so long that Tsukasa could stay out until nearly midnight; he knew Sakurako would make her move, and soon. He just didn't know how she would go about it. So he kept a close eye on Tsukushi, watching her interactions from a distance and cringing every time she chatted with his girlfriend in the hall. Something terrible was coming: he could feel it in his bones. 


	11. A Boy Worthwhile

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

11 – A Boy Worthwhile

At school, Tsukushi hadn't really expected Akira to approach her on his own, not to mention ask her for a few minutes of her time. "I know Tsubaki so well, and I think you're just as interesting a person," he complimented. She blinked a few times at him and a little, wide-eyed toy on her briefcase jangled.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" she asked. "I was planning on going back to my classroom for lunch to catch up on some work."

Akira balked. "That's so studious of you," he commented dryly, "but wouldn't you rather spend your lunch with a handsome guy like me?"

"Handsome?" Tsukushi burst out laughing. "Well, you may make some girls topple over from heartache, but I hardly find any of you four boys appealing." She rolled her eyes when Akira grabbed his chest, looking stunned and in pain.

"Uh!" he yelped. "I'm struck!" He tipped dramatically, but when Tsukushi made no move to help him, he coughed and stood upright. He brushed a lock of hair away from his eyes and straightened his shirt. "Well, wouldn't you still like to eat with me? Soujiro is pursuing a lady friend and Rui and Tsukasa are being boring dolts. I'd like someone to sit with," he told her with a grin.

Tsukushi sighed. "Fine. The cafeteria, then?"

"That sounds fabulous to me!" Akira took her briefcase and bento, hoisting the former over his shoulder. She gaped and stopped, actually having to jump to try to take back her stolen items.

"What was that for? Give that back to me!" she cried, jumping once more, though he held it far out of her reach. Akira raised one eyebrow.

"I'm just being chivalrous," he defended, "as a lady should never have to carry her own things in the presence of a man." Tsukushi growled, but was forced to give up due to their large height difference.

"Fine," she muttered. They started walking once more, though she was quiet. Akira glanced down.

"So how do you like Tokyo?" he asked at length.

Tsukushi sighed and played with one of her braided pigtails, tossing it back over her shoulder. "It's all right, I suppose," she replied, "but Hiroshima was less... pretentious. At least, the school I went to." Akira nodded.

"You went to a commoner's school, didn't you?" She immediately jumped on the defensive.

"Common is better than this!" she huffed in response. "This place is... I don't know what. I don't know anyone, and I get followed and stared at like I'm some rare animal. I've met maybe two people I like." Akira raised his eyebrows.

"Two?"

Tsukushi nodded vehemently. "Makiko, she's in my class, and Sakurako." She shook her head. "This place is like some bizarre, miniature high society!"

"...So you don't like me?" Tsukushi paused. She certainly hadn't expected that response.

"No, no! I'm... I'm not saying that!" she tried. Akira did look slightly offended. "It's just that... I can relate to them. Makiko understands me, and Sakurako is so friendly to me." She sighed—she had dug herself into a hole.

"I think I know what you mean," he said in a lower tone. He shrugged his shoulders as they walked into the cafeteria, and Tsukushi quickly found an empty table. They set their things down in silence.

"Look, I'm sorry," she apologized. Akira raised his eyebrows to look at her. "I do like you. Far more than my brother, at the moment, and that Hanazawa Rui!"

"Rui? What did he do?"

Tsukushi's flame immediately lit. "He's so sneaky—always appearing where I don't want to see him, not that I ever want to see him at all. He's always talking to me, but then acts like a jerk. I don't get him, and I don't want to." Akira watched her face as she spoke, and as she was always so animated, seeing her nose wrinkle in annoyance amused him. "What are you staring at?"

"It's just funny you say that," he replied, "because he says the opposite about you." She blinked, and narrowed her eyes. Ah, it intrigued her, he thought slyly. Girls never told the truth.

"What... what does he say about me?" Tsukushi asked after some deliberation.

He lifted one eyebrow and leaned forward on the table, surprising her, so she quickly sat back to avoid having her face too close to his. "He mentioned you the other day, and told me, 'I don't know what Tsukasa is so huffy about, she is cute.'" Immediately her faced turned red. Bingo! "When I inquired further, he stopped talking and looked away."

"He's just shallow," Tsukushi announced and slapped her hand on the table, telling him, "Don't believe anything he says, he's just trying to irk me. But enough about me, Mimasaka-san. Tell me about yourself."

Akira blinked. Well, that was odd, he thought, as she propped her head on one hand and opened her bento box with the other. He wasn't really used to people changing subjects that rapidly, nor was he accustomed to anyone being interested in him, personally, at all. He pondered what to say before telling her, "There isn't much, I'm just me. One of the F4, that's enough for most people."

She scoffed at him. "I'm not most people," she reminded him. "Besides, I think there's more to you than that. A charming, funny guy doesn't just spring out of nowhere." Tsukushi knew she should have stopped herself, blushed, and tried to take it back—but she didn't have it in her. When he gaped, she shrugged.

"Well, uh," Akira said, nearly slapping himself when he stuttered. "I don't know. I have two sisters. My family is pretty normal, I suppose," he told her. He was being a blabbering idiot: he never told people about his home life, and certainly not to a girl with a family as estranged as Tsukushi's. He was tripping over his own feet.

"Sisters?" she asked genially. He nodded. "How old are they? Do they go to this school?"

"Oh, no, no," Akira waved his hands. "They're twins, actually. They're in middle school, so they're not on this campus, though they do attend Eitoku." Tsukushi nodded.

"Ah," she hummed. She looked thoughtful.

"Well, how about you tell me something, now?" Tsukushi blinked at him.

"There's not a lot to say," she admitted, snapping up some seaweed in her chopsticks and pressing it onto her fish. "My mom died two and a half years ago, which isn't all that interesting. I lived with my mother's friend Aoike—I had gone to school with his son Kazuya since I was little, so it was easy to stay with them." Akira nodded his head.

"Do you miss your mother?" He knew he shouldn't have asked it, but she seemed so outgoing at that moment; so revealing. He wanted to learn as much as he could while he still had the chance. She was intriguing to him.

She shrugged her shoulders disaffectedly. "Every night, but I've gotten used to it. I didn't think about her much when I lived with Kazuya, because they were like family to me... It's harder, here," Tsukushi told him.

"I can't imagine." He sighed. "Tsukasa's family was never really, well, a family." Tsukushi nodded her head.

"His mother hates me," she admitted. Akira raised his eyebrows when she dropped her head a little and exhaled. "It's hard living on this money that doesn't even really belong to me. His father—I mean, our father—was so kind to me, but I feel like I'm imposing on something I don't deserve. It's even harder when Tsukasa won't talk to me and Tsubaki lives in America, I really only have the maids to talk to." She shrugged her shoulders.

Akira was surprised; she had such a complex, but it was an endearing one. She didn't seem very complicated like so many of the teenage girls he abhorred, and instead all her feelings revolved around her common values. He thought it sad that she was really all by herself in a world she wasn't used to.

"Well," he said at length, "though I can't say I know what you're going through, I understand what you're saying. But think of this: if your father thinks of you enough to take you in and overturn even Tsukasa's old lady to keep you here, then I think he probably already knows how you feel. Don't worry so much. Even if Tsukasa is a jerk, he'll watch out for you—and don't feel alone, because you have lots of people around who are your friends. Soujiro and I are always around, and Rui likes you, even if you don't like him—though you may not think so." Akira smiled at her. "How about you come out with me tonight? My last lady's husband found us, so I'm single for a while, and I'm not quite up to the dating scene yet. You can help me ward off the vultures!"

Tsukushi laughed at that, and nodded her head. "Well, I'm busy until seven, but after that, I can go." Akira grinned.

"Great. I'll pick you up at seven-thirty."


	12. An Exceptional Date

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

12 – An Exceptional Date

Tsukushi was standing idly in the front hallway and twiddling the strap of her purse in her fingers when she heard a door slam. She hummed. Apparently Tsukasa was home, she thought, looking down with a wary eye at her slim, knee-length dress and curled hair. Not quite in the mood for an interrogation, she went to go out the front door and wait on the porch instead. Her hand was on the knob when he spoke; she hadn't made it.

"Where are you going dressed like that?" Tsukushi heard her brother growl. She didn't turn, and opened the door more. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

She spun and saw Tsukasa exactly where she expected him: standing a few steps behind her, his hands on his hips. Tsukushi thrust a finger at his face and her voice had little room for escalation—she started high on the volume meter.

"I'm going out tonight to have a good time! What do you mean, 'dressed like that'? You have no right to say that to me." She saw Tsukasa flex his fists and his tongue looked tied in his mouth. He was never fabulous in forming coherent responses to her direct intolerance of him. Tsukushi pointed to the door. "Get out."

He stared at her. "But—" She scowled. But what, she wondered, this is his house? A flame billowed up from her feet to her ears. The temper she never knew she had flared out like a timed eruption and she wasn't going to stand for it any longer. Tsukushi dropped her hands to her sides and clenched her fists together in a considerate amount of restraint; it wouldn't do to ruin her good hair by getting into a fistfight with her obnoxious housemate. That's all he was to her at this point, any relation between them she mentally squished under the heel of her boot.

"Get out!" Tsukasa knew he'd done it. Her cheeks were red and she looked like someone stomped on too many times. He knew her anger was never merely anger—if he didn't escape soon, she would burst into tears and then he would have to tell her everything—that, he couldn't do, not yet; maybe not ever. With uncharacteristic sensibility, he glared at her, turned, and walked out of the room.

The same moment Tsukushi felt tears pooling in her eyes, the doorbell rang. She thanked whatever power resided above and quickly opened the door, using all her reserves of self-control to stop herself from giving the hapless man at her door a big, wet hug. She could really have used one, right then. However, she smiled at Akira and said, "Good evening."

Akira blinked. He had stood on the porch for a mere thirty seconds, but he could hear the siblings shouting—more like just Tsukushi, her voice had been sonic—at one another just inside and felt no desire to interrupt. As soon as he heard a door slam he thought it was safe to announce his arrival and with an unexpected nervous twitch he reached to press the doorbell. When it flew open, he nearly jumped.

"Ah, good evening to you too," he replied, and inwardly groaned when his voice slipped a little. Tsukushi smiled at him, even if it did appear forced, and he couldn't help admiring the conservative—yet rather complimentary—dress she sported. He himself had struggled on a pair of nice slacks and a collared shirt, even if only to appear a little less available than usual. Glancing at the pair of them in a reflection in the car window, he thought they matched rather well.

"You drive?" she asked as he held the passenger door open for her and she slid inside.

"I'm the only one of us who does," he replied dryly, and Tsukushi laughed.

"I think you're the only one I would ever trust to sit in the front areas of a car at all," she scoffed. They both laughed and Akira pealed out with a roar of the engine. He opted not to ask regarding the incident he heard—he figured if she felt like talking about it, she would.

Tsukasa sat at the window, his elbows on the sill with his hands on his cheeks. He watched Akira's car zoom straight from the curb, leaving tire treads and smoke. His friend was going to perish deliciously if anything happened to his sister—no, he amended, he was going to die any way for even chasing her, not to mention without telling anyone else about it. He figured he would wait, though, for the most opportune moment; it would do little good to infuriate her further. Tsukasa sighed and ran his fingers through his curled hair. It wasn't doing, not at all. He could rein in his temper for only so long, and then, everything would blow, and he could only growl and pull away from looking out the window.

Tsukushi held tightly onto the arm of her door as Akira whipped the car around a sharp curve going far faster than he should. Her knuckles were white. "Ah, can we... slow down a little?" she managed out through the screech of the tires. He looked over at her and she felt her pulse double the moment he took his eyes off the road. "Mimasaka-san...!"

Akira decided to take pity on the girl and applied a little less gas and a little more brake. She relaxed visibly and he laughed outright.

The club was quiet that night—Akira had chosen the place purely because Tuesday nights were written off as 'dining night': mild music, a calmer environment and food of a quality not better than most, but original. Glancing at Tsukushi, who had her eyes focused on the road, he thought she might appreciate it the way he did. He could hope, anyway, he mused, as he parked rather haphazardly and the two left the car using the better part of two different spaces.

Tsukushi knew she was tipsy—but she liked it. She noticed no difference in herself besides being able to see her handsome date just as he was. She giggled again at another one of his stories.

"That's appalling," she told him, sipping another spoonful of soup. She tasted it and closed her eyes. "This is really amazing," Tsukushi added.

He grinned. "I thought you might appreciate it."

"Mm," was all she could say to describe it. The foods contained such a strange combination of flavors, from orange-fried vegetables to fish purees with cream.

Upon finishing dinner, Akira perked up at a song belted out over the club's usually much louder speakers. It was a fun tune and he immediately got to his feet. Tsukushi watched curiously as he offered a hand to her with a sideways smile. "May I have this dance?"

When she nodded, he pulled her to the dance floor. "I'm not very good at dancing," she admitted, staring at her feet as she tripped lightly over herself.

"Don't worry about it," Akira told her and made a disapproving noise at her nervous look. "Don't doubt, just do." Tsukushi supposed her mixed drink was taking over as the pace of the song picked up and she found herself moving rather wildly to the music. Akira was laughing at her energy, but she didn't mind.

It wasn't long, however, before the music switched over to something slower. The lights dropped out noticeably and suddenly, her hands were caught up. Akira looked rather intent as he dropped his arm to her hip and quietly said, "Can I have this one, too?"

Tsukushi was different to Akira, and she took him by surprise. She had all the character that most girls her age lacked and many older women had—the same traits which he admired in his married affairs. She had a sort of confidence about her; she didn't pretend to know things, because all she really needed to know was her own self. He could tell just from spending dinner with her she had no reservations or insecurities of her body: she ate what she pleased, and didn't fear how she might look eating, dancing—she was the person she was. Akira found it charming when he pretentiously brought her in for a slow dance, and she blushed.

Akira had difficulty holding in his laughter when Tsukushi tripped on the toe of his shoe and he had to tighten his grasp to keep her from falling right over. She quickly raised her eyes, stammering, "I'm sorry," but Akira had no response; his gaze was focused intently on her. Tsukushi cleared her throat and attempted to pull away from him, but he held her hand more tightly.

He leaned down. "It's all right," he murmured in her ear. She shivered from his close proximity to her, and swallowed. He drew back and they continued to dance like nothing had happened, but Akira's eyes never left hers.

The clock read nearly eleven that night when the pair left the club, with Akira holding Tsukushi's arm in his because her second drink had made her stumble a little more than she was used to. She had no real outward reactions, he noticed—no excessive laughter or depression, besides seeming a little more outgoing than she had appeared at first and a lurch here and there. Easily he led her to the car and, having had no drinks himself, got in on the driver's side. Tsukushi was quiet and looked lost in thought as he backed out of the space and raked out with a squealing of his tires.

"Isn't it strange," Tsukushi said suddenly, "how everything is so... manufactured?" Akira raised one eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?"

She brushed back some of her rather silky-looking hair. "It's so different, some times. Kazuya lived outside of the big city, and many lights were supermarkets, houses and streetlamps. But here," she made a wide, undefined gesture, "it's everywhere. The artificiality permeates everything."

Akira had never thought of it that way and raised his eyebrows, not quite sure how to respond. "Welcome to Tokyo," was all he managed. She turned and smiled.

"Thank you for taking me out tonight," Tsukushi told him. "You really didn't have to, but it was kind. I think I'll be all right now."

At this, he looked more surprised and brought the car to a swift stop at a red light. "Pardon me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

She waved one hand and sighed, saying, "I know you heard Tsukasa and I fighting, and I know you're just being a nice guy to take out a girl like me." Tsukushi shrugged her shoulders and, holding one hand to her mouth, yawned a wide yawn. "I feel better now."

When the light turned green, Akira looked in his mirrors and saw no one. He quickly put his car into park and turned to face the confused girl sitting in the passenger seat.

"You think I took you out just because I'm a 'nice guy'?" he asked, his voice rather low. She blinked in confusion.

"Well..."

Akira cut her off. "I'm not a nice guy, Tsukushi," he told her seriously. He put some hair behind his ears to keep it out of his eyes. "I didn't take you out because of... anything! I took you out because, well," Akira paused here, fumbling for the right words, "because I honestly like you." Before Tsukushi could utter any response he leaned forward and ever so slightly kissed her.

It was brief but sweet, his practiced lips on hers. Tsukushi only realized after a horn honked behind them and Akira jumped that she had had her eyes open, watching his fair brow and long lashes while he kissed her. He quickly returned to sitting properly and shifted the car into gear to proceed through the green light. Both of them blushed; Akira wondered what had come over him, while Tsukushi merely pondered what exactly had just transpired.

They spent the rest of the drive in silence. Akira issued the beginning of a mental beating, reprimanding himself for even considering making a move on his best friend's little sister. Not only was Tsukasa vengeful, protective, and irrational, but Akira knew he himself was a bad person and had no desire to inflict his damages upon the innocent girl. The consequences were extraordinary and far too great for him to even try imagining them. In every sense of the words it was a losing situation: either he messed everything up and suffered at Tsukasa's talented killer's hands, or destroyed himself for even attempting a relationship with someone of such a strange, extreme caliber as Tsukushi. Either way he saw it, deviating from his normal routine to even try to win the girl was imminent ruin—even if he did like her that way. He found that the real kicker, the one condition was despite it all, did he like the girl that strongly to begin with?

As he pulled the car to stop in front of the mansion, he glanced over to where Tsukushi sat with her eyes ahead, her expression dazed—and he balked. She had two fingers to her lower lip and her eyebrows were drawn in puzzlement, and she held one hand on the dashboard like she had all her concentration focused there. "Tsukushi?" That sealed the deal: she glanced up, matched his eyes with hers, and he felt everything stop for a moment. "We're here."

Akira moved to leave the car when she held up a hand to him, smiling, and said, "That's all right, I'll walk myself." Tsukushi dropped her eyes, thinking for a moment. "I like you," she told him at last, and smiled. With that she opened the door, purse in hand, and stepped out onto the sidewalk. She closed the door lightly behind her and with a quick wave left at a short jog into the open gate.

Akira had been too frozen to react, or even to say good-bye, and he instead took some moments to shift into drive and pull off the curb. He knew, at that moment, that his life was no longer as simple as it had once been. A great, black void of uncertainty awaited him, but it looked promising.


	13. Possibility for Improvement

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

13 – Possibility for Improvement

Tsukushi wondered what the next days would bring. She stumbled in the door the night before a little drowsy, her mind wandering in strange directions but her body focused on sleep. Intent on watching the movement of her feet she had bumped directly into Tsukasa, who had merely been standing on the steps watching her.

"Sorry," she garbled out, still rather discombobulated by the events in Akira's slick, red sports car. Tsukushi moved to pass him, but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, sis," Tsukasa said—he sounded so familiar, it was comforting to her. She stopped and looked over at him.

"All right," she replied, and when he faced her she hugged him without a thought. Tsukasa stood for a moment silent, unresponsive, eyebrows tilted in confusion, but he slowly wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. Physical affection in any form was rare in his family, even with Tsubaki—but Tsukushi was a close thing, a special thing to him, and he could only sigh when she sniffled a little.

"Go to bed," he murmured, releasing her but guiding her for a short distance up the steps. She managed to nod eventually and wandered off towards her bedroom.

Tsukushi used one hand as a visor against the morning sun, peering about for any sign of Akira. She had spent at least an hour pondering him in bed the night before—he was a strange enigma, a man who seemed so distant with his exploits, but had been so vulnerable that moment in the car that she couldn't forget him.

She wondered if she had been too bold—'I like you.' Her face flushed just remembering. Certainly the alcohol hadn't made her say it, so what did? Maybe the fact it was the truth: she appreciated his company, enjoyed his personality and despite his upbringing and stature, she found herself easily relating to him. Tsukushi sighed and looked at the strange toy Yuuki had passed her at the store the other day. 'I found it hanging around the shop,' she had said with a laugh about the odd, large-eyed, yellow ochre dinosaur. 'It's an alarm. If you're ever in trouble, pull out the ring on the bottom and it makes a loud noise.' Though the use seemed general, it provided an interesting decoration to the strap of her briefcase. Even a small matter of identity was enough for her in this stifling place.

Tsukushi was staring intently at the bizarre thing when someone wandered up, easily taking a seat beside her. She recognized the smell immediately—it was the same intoxicating cologne Akira had worn the night before. She lifted her head and smiled at him.

"Good morning, Mimasaka-san," she greeted. Akira was leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together.

"Really, you can call me Akira," he corrected her. He peered at the toy. "Strange thing."

Tsukushi shrugged and with a laugh, told him, "I know. A friend gave it to me." She tapped it with one finger.

Akira grinned a grin he hadn't felt for some time—it was a calm feeling; maybe this girl was the answer to the question he had never thought of asking.

"So," Tsukasa commented with his fork in a shrimp, "I've noticed you and Akira are seeing one another quite... often." Tsukushi raised one eyebrow.

"And?"

He shrugged his shoulders, then jabbed his fork at her with a sly expression. "So? Are you dating?" Immediately Tsukushi's face reddened. "Ah!"

"It's not quite like that!" she replied, though she hardly looked as intent as she sounded.

"Sure." Tsukasa's tone was mockingly bored, and with practiced class he cut some of his food with his fork.

The pair sat in a corner of the club, having decided to show up early so they could eat together for the first time in at least a week. Things were looking up for Tsukushi: she had three good friends, a good job and a fair school life. Though, she admitted to herself, no one knew about her job besides Yuuki, but Tsukasa wasn't quite aware enough to inquire over her new friend—who quite obviously didn't attend their school. Everyone asked where she went, but she told each of them a different answer, and it never seemed that any of them cross-referenced. By then she had learned the subway system, and could quite easily maneuver her way around Tokyo without much trouble, using her pocket money for tickets, meals, and the occasional blouse she could find on sale. The bargain-shopping instincts her mother had instilled with her would never completely fade away, she knew. In any case of it, Tsukushi spent her afternoons with Yuuki, most lunchtime with Makiko, and then often stayed to talk with Sakurako. As much as she liked the red head, she thought occasionally, her niceties sometimes grew obnoxious; so Tsukushi spent much of her time attempting to take the other girl out to see new things and lighten her up a little. Her midday was more unpredictable: she valued her visits to the emergency exit, and almost as much dreaded the days when she found Rui occupying the same space.

He irritated her because her rising tolerance of him. Now, whenever she walked out to find him sitting on the steps, pondering or playing his violin, she merely ignored him and gave one or two word responses to any of his questions; she had hoped this would convince him to stop talking to her at all, but her plan was a complete failure. Every time he saw her there he would stop playing—his musical talents were really his only redeeming quality, in Tsukushi's mind—or look up, and ask her some inane question. The other day it was, "Why do girls always have to leave running?" That was obviously a reference to her, and she resented it; yesterday, he asked, "What's the time difference between France and Japan?"—as if she knew; as if she cared. Tsukushi had looked over at him and replied, "Probably shorter than it will take you to leave me alone." They would pass about insults, hers vehement and his merely curious, until he grew bored and the conversation always ended there. The amount of control he naturally exerted over those around him infuriated her; once, while she sat with the F4 during lunch, Akira and Soujiro were badgering him about some manner or another and he told them off. Both had been stunned at first, then remained quiet for the rest of the lunch hour. Tsukushi had been forced to admire, at least a little, someone who could silence the two playboys with a word or two.

Remembering that important fact about Akira made Tsukushi pause, and she dropped a green bean back to her plate with a sigh. Really, it seemed they hadn't moved much closer since Akira kissed her in his car; he often asked her out on evenings, her days off, and they had even spent the day together during a day-long holiday—but she had nearly resigned to thinking that he didn't like her as more than a close friend. Though she couldn't pinpoint what it was she wanted from him, 'close friends' certainly wasn't it. But she supposed their friendship was better than nothing. Then again, she thought, summer vacation was quickly creeping up on them. Tsukasa talked continually of the F4's plan to visit what he so distastefully called "Wahaii"; there were posters nearly everywhere for the group's annual vacation there. She knew she would never follow them, but sometimes she sat and wondered how she could use the break to meet new people and maybe take a trip of her own back home, even if solely to see her familiar hometown. Tsukushi stabbed an almond with her fork and chewed it with a sour expression.

"Ah, there they are!" She glanced up when she heard Soujiro's voice over the crowd, and saw him waving at them over the heads of those around him. At least members of the F4 were easy to spot, she grudgingly admitted as Rui followed with his hands in his pockets. The two approached the table, swiping chairs from vacant ones neighboring them to sit on the two unoccupied ends.

Tsukasa noticed his sister hardly look at Soujiro and Rui, instead peering past them for any sign of Akira. When she didn't see him, she looked disappointed; Tsukasa ground his teeth together at how it seemed his friend was leading her on to... he snorted. To nothing.

"Looking for me?" Tsukushi jumped at the low voice in her ear. How she hadn't even detected him, she didn't know, but she couldn't help but laugh when Akira walked around her and pulled up a chair on the corner between she and Rui. Without much common courtesy he found a spare fork and took one of her steamed green beans.

"Haven't eaten all day," he commented, unaware of Tsukushi's slack-jawed expression. He looked at her and asked, "What?"

She shook her head and her face seemed pink, he noted, as she replied, "Oh, uh, nothing." Every day, Akira thought with a slight increase in pulse, every day I like this girl more. Why he couldn't summon the courage to really ask her out was beyond him—but he thought the deliberation was healthy for him. He hadn't had sex in weeks, for she filled most of his thoughts in that division of his mind. Akira nearly coughed up the bean in his throat from surprise when he felt an elbow in his side. He glanced at Rui, who looked mostly innocent—Akira raised one eyebrow.

"What?" he whispered, taking the opportunity while Soujiro momentarily distracted Tsukushi.

"You keep thinking about it," Rui murmured in response, "so just do it." Akira tilted his eyebrows in surprise. Rui was the last person he expected to tell him anything like that; he rarely initiated conversation, and he never gave advice. However, when he looked at his friend, Rui was merely sitting with a bored expression like he did the rest of his waking hours. The relationship between Rui and Tsukushi was certainly a strange one, with Tsukushi nearly going out of her way to avoid him, while Rui almost seemed to enjoy badgering her—almost as much as Tsukasa. Akira rubbed his forehead, and thought, she certainly has turned us upside-down.

"Tsukushi?" Akira asked, immediately gaining Tsukushi's attention. "Can I talk to you outside?" Curious, and somewhat confused, she nodded her head and shrugged her shoulders when Tsukasa gave her a questioning look. "We'll be right back, I just want to grab us some drinks," Akira told them and boldly took Tsukushi by the hand, leading them away from the table before anyone had the opportunity to respond.

"What's this about?" Tsukushi asked, feeling rather like a toy the way he had taken her from the table. They were far enough from the group that they couldn't hear or see them, but close enough that they could still hear over the club's booming music.

"Well," Akira began slowly, already feeling a whisper of butterflies in his stomach, "I know we've been going out a lot together, and I've just... been sort of afraid of being serious with anyone," he admitted. Tsukushi looked surprised at his confession. "And I want you to know that I do like you—like that, yes—and I... I was wondering if you'd... ah..." Akira was stumbling over himself already. He really was quite hopeless around her. He opened his mouth to continue but a soft hand on his arm halted him. He looked at Tsukushi, who was smiling at him.

"Yes," was all she said. Akira had a stupid grin on his face when he lightly leaned down and delivered a quick, unexpected kiss to her slightly parted lips. Tsukushi managed out an "Mmm!" of surprise before he released her.

"Akira!" she scolded, a bright blush springing to her cheeks as she looked around to see if anyone was looking, then she slapped his chest lightly. He could only laugh. "It's not funny!"

"Oh, I think it is," he chuckled. While she was focused on glaring at him, he took her hand in his and leaned down to her ear. "I say we ditch this joint," he whispered. Tsukushi's eyes flew wide.

"But...!"

"No buts," Akira told her and placed a finger on her lips to quiet her. "I'll take you someplace nice, just the two of us." She looked apprehensive, but slowly nodded her head. "Let's get out of here."

Tsukasa had been rather bored with the evening's turn of events when Akira and Tsukushi went off somewhere to 'talk privately.' He listened to Soujiro joking with him, but only made a few nods of his head to show he was still listening. However, he gaped when he saw Akira and Tsukushi, hand in hand, nearly take off at a run out of the club.

"Did you see that?" he cried, pointing at the doors, which were relatively visible from their table. Soujiro blinked at him.

"See what?"

"Tsukushi and Akira just... left!" He was appalled. Soujiro stared at him, then burst into a fit of laughter.

"You weren't expecting it?" he asked, snorting to hold in his chuckles when Tsukasa glared at him. "He probably just told her he wanted to start dating her. Do you blame them?" Soujiro glanced at Rui for some support. The other man only shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"How boring of them," Tsukasa growled out, and crossed his arms.

The last month or so hadn't been treating him as fairly as they were Tsukushi; he found himself at a stalemate with Sakurako, where she had no real leverage, but he couldn't guarantee she wouldn't do something obscene, as she was prone to do when she grew frustrated with a situation. As much as he hated his sister hanging out with his currently ex-girlfriend—he was still hoping that his luck would hold out and Sakurako wouldn't call his bluff—he had no real means to justify himself, either. He would merely have to wait for something to happen, and when he did, he only hoped he was ready for it. Tsukasa was looking forward to the Hawaii trip if only to escape the girl's pressures long enough to enjoy himself.


	14. Intrigue

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

14 – Intrigue

"So Rui," Tsukasa said at length, "when is Shizuka supposed to come back? I knew it was sometime soon," he recalled. Rui yawned and shrugged his shoulders.

"You have to know," Soujiro scolded him. Rui didn't respond.

Tsukushi sat with Akira close beside her as he was carefully taste-testing one of the dishes she had brought in her bento box. She raised her eyebrows and asked, "Who's Shizuka?" When Rui didn't respond, Akira leaned his head into hers.

"Oh, just our childhood friend," he told her with a yawn. "He's been in love with her for the longest time." Immediately Tsukushi turned her head to stare at the usually lackadaisical boy and saw him with his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Be quiet," he murmured, and sat back with his hands on the ground behind him. His friends only laughed.

"Yeah, we've known Shizuka for ever," Soujiro told Tsukushi. "She really brought out the best in Rui."

"Shut up," Rui said again, but none of the boys seemed to hear him.

Akira nodded, adding, "She's a great girl! She's modeling in France right now."

"Shut it!" Rui suddenly shouted, taking all of them by surprise. Tsukushi had been watching him grow more irritated, until he suddenly blew up; it was so uncharacteristic, she was fascinated. This Shizuka person must have been amazing, she thought suddenly, to invoke such a reaction. She decided to ask Akira about it later, for the rest of the F4 seemed to have been effectively silenced by Rui's outburst.

* * *

Tsukushi was chatting merrily with Yuuki, as the shop had been quiet for some time.

"So you kissed when he took you out after that?" Yuuki was asking when the bells jangled and the door opened. Tsukushi was leaned over restocking one of the trays and decided Yuuki could handle one sale on her own while she finished. However, upon hearing a familiar voice say, "I'll have the pink one, please," she stood up so quickly she hit her head into the metal door-slide. She fell back with a yelp.

"Tsukushi?" Yuuki asked worriedly, briefly apologizing to Rui before stooping to help her friend up. "What's wrong with you?" Tsukushi took her offered help to stand and Rui stared at her when she came up over the top of the glass counter.

"H-hello," she greeted him, her face turning a rather fine shade of red when he said nothing. Tsukushi smiled nervously while Yuuki glanced between them.

"Ah, Tsukushi," he said, as if suddenly realizing it was in fact she he was talking to. He seemed to disregard her for a moment, then furrowed his brow.

"You know each other?" Yuuki asked curiously, having removed the requested pink dango from the sliding glass doors. Tsukushi looked at her friend and nodded.

"Uh, yeah, this is... my classmate, Hanazawa Rui."

Rui looked at the other girl and quietly said, "Yo." He turned his eyes back on Tsukushi and she didn't like the intent look she saw there.

"That will be ¥375," Yuuki interrupted meekly. Rui drew his gaze from Tsukushi and took a bill from his pocket, putting it in Yuuki's hand and then taking the dango. Tsukushi raised one eyebrow.

"I thought you couldn't eat sweets," she commented as he turned to leave. Rui paused and turned to look at her. With a tilted eyebrow and a slight smile, he replied, "I don't—but I like to look at them anyway. Akira says I would probably fall in love with a weed on the side of the road, just because." With that, he left the store with a jingle of bells.

Tsukushi flexed a fist, her eyebrows drawn in confusion. What on earth had he meant by that? she wondered, feeling rather infuriated with his bizarre contentions. Yuuki interrupted her.

"You go to school with that guy?" she asked with a gleam in her eye. Tsukushi blinked at her, and nodded. "Wow, he's so handsome!"

At this, Tsukushi scoffed. "Hardly!" She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, telling her friend, "He's actually one of my brother's friends, and he has no redeeming qualities at all!"

"I think looks that good can definitely be considered redeeming," Yuuki commented dryly. "And he was looking at you a lot. Maybe he likes you?"

Tsukushi gaped at her friend in horror and quickly defended. "That's completely ridiculous!" she nearly cried. "Not only do I have a boyfriend, but he doesn't have a decent bone in his body!" Yuuki raised both eyebrows. "All he can do is play the violin."

"Really... I like the violin," commented Yuuki thoughtfully.

"I can't believe you," Tsukushi replied, and her friend laughed.

"That's funny," Yuuki said and jabbed Tsukushi in the ribs with her elbow, "you seemed a little at a loss for words when you saw him."

"I just didn't expect to see him!" And it was the truth—though Rui hadn't told anyone when she admitted to him she had been looking for a job, now that he had seen her working and even bought something, he was sure to blab. She steamed. "Besides, I didn't want my brother to know I'm working, and I just know that obnoxious Hanazawa Rui is going to tell him." She sighed.

Yuuki patted her friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she said, "besides, you have a cute boyfriend now. Less worrying about brothers and jobs and more about spending time with this anonymous Akira!" She stopped, and then asked, "What is his last name, by the way?"

Tsukushi replied without thinking: "Oh, Mimasaka Akira." She immediately covered her mouth.

"Mimasaka? That sounds familiar." Her friend hummed and tapped her chin, then suddenly gaped at her. "You mean, Mimasaka Akira, the son of that successful businessman?" Tsukushi slowly nodded. "I can't believe it! I saw him in the newspaper once—he is so handsome!"

"I guess," Tsukushi replied quietly, and sighed. She would have had to tell her friend eventually. However, Yuuki looked to dreamy-eyed to ask too many questions.

"You must really be in some group to date Mimasaka Akira," Yuuki told her and grinned, but Tsukushi only shrugged.

"Not really. We just like each other." Though it was somewhat of a lie, she wasn't sure she was ready to really tell Yuuki about the world she had been transferred so ungracefully into.

"That's so romantic..."

Tsukushi decided she agreed somewhat with her friend's seeming misjudgment when she found herself standing on the roof of the building, the door closed and locked behind her. She had been minding her own business when Akira came out of nowhere and grabbed her, taking her by surprise and quickly dragging her up into the stairwell and out into the fresh air.

"Akira!" she gasped, a little winded from her alarm. He was holding her hand tightly, still, and grinned at her. She took in his silly smile and looked confused—and suspicious. "What is it? I have to get to class!"

"Class!" he snorted. "Class is more important than seeing your boyfriend?"

"Yes!" Clearly her response was unexpected, but Akira quickly recovered from the insult.

"Now, now," he said, meandering over to the side of the door, and with a quick flourish of one hand brought a large bouquet of flowers into view. Tsukushi gasped as he walked back over to her and took her hands, placing the flowers in her fingers and then holding them.

"What is this for?" she asked, quietly, raising her eyes to his.

Akira looked smug when he said, "Come on, now, you don't remember? You've officially been in Tokyo for a month." She looked blankly at him and he sighed dramatically. "You were so worried about surviving here, but it's already been a month and look, you're doing just fine!" He laughed at her mystified expression.

"Thanks, I guess," she said, glancing up at him. She had to smile at his goofy look. "I have survived, haven't I?" Akira nodded at her, and just when she lowered her guard a little, he leaned down and put his lips lightly on hers. Tsukushi blinked—the action was unexpected, but she had no urge to resist with his hands still holding hers and his mouth hardly pushing her for anything more than a response.

So she returned the kiss. Though it was their second time—and hers, he had quite taken her first kiss from her, though she considered tripping him the other day retribution enough—Tsukushi found herself quite comfortable with him, and hardly intimidated by his somewhat assuming nature. But then, suddenly, she found herself remembering what Tsukasa had said about Rui; "He's been in love with her for the longest time." Tsukushi's eyes flew open and Akira, at the same moment, drew away from the kiss.

Blushing slightly, she nearly dropped her flowers and had to take her hands from Akira's to keep them. "Ah," she said, not sure what to think of the incident from the day before springing to mind at such a moment, "I should probably go." Akira opened his mouth to respond, but she walked to the door and with a quick wave and a, "Goodbye!" she disappeared back into the school. He stood some feet away, dumbfounded. Deciding to take her hasty departure as a compliment he decided to take a break from his friends and spend some time looking over the courtyard and enjoying the warm day.

Tsukushi, however, spent the class period impatiently tapping her pencil on her notebook. Akira had been so romantic, she thought, sighing, and she had left so quickly. She had to stuff the flowers in her locker—she didn't need to be stared at any more than she usually was. However, the foremost goal on her mind was to find that Hanazawa Rui and convince him to keep his mouth shut. She liked doing something for herself—working—and wasn't about to let him create another rift between she and Tsukasa over it. He was guaranteed to make a big deal out of nearly everything and they had either solved or forgotten about most of their differences: he stopped opposing her friendship with Sakurako and she tried to avoid rising to his bait when he made things difficult for her. The arrangement was working well and Tsukushi didn't want the obtuse boy to complicate things. She knew she was going to have to stop working eventually, but she valued her pocket money and was saving up for something—though she wasn't sure what, yet.

When the bell rang, Tsukushi was one of the first out of her classroom and she made her way down the hall to the back doors. No one really visited the place besides Rui and her, so she opened the doors and went out onto the stairs. She had expected to see him idly sitting as he usually did; however, that day, he was standing with his back to the wall, leaning against it. How he could play his violin standing up was beyond Tsukushi—but the tune was different, new, and the rather jolly quality of it seemed to lift her spirits before he noticed her and the music came to an abrupt halt.

"Ah, Hanazawa Rui," she said, as if she hadn't expected to see him there. He only looked at her, slowly lowering the bow to his side and holding his violin by the neck. "I didn't expect to see you here today," she lied.

"Why not?" He had no real outward expressions—he always looked so blank, so emotionless. She shrugged her shoulders, having no answer for him. Instead, Tsukushi refused to become flustered by him and sat down on the steps, having to turn her head to see him.

"Have you told Tsukasa, yet?" she asked after some moments of silence.

"Told him what?" Rui said blandly. He didn't even keep his eyes on hers for any period of time. Strange, she thought for a moment, he looks nervous. He seemed more introverted—which was saying a lot, considering the extremely quiet way he behaved around the F4—and unwilling to look at her. She raised one eyebrow.

"That I'm working," she replied with a touch of annoyance to her tone. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Should I? I didn't find it that interesting, and I assumed he would know."

"Well," Tsukushi told him, trying to stop from getting irritated, "I don't want him to know." To this, Rui had no witty response, and Tsukushi finally sighed. "What's wrong with you today?"

Then, he looked at her. "What's wrong with me?" His voice was quieter, but he enunciated the last word gravely. She was alarmed at the severe expression in his grey eyes. However, she was caught off-guard by them—those marble eyes... she had never really bothered to observe them before, but they had a strange, solid quality to them. Right then, he looked so fascinating to her; Rui seemed rigid in determination. About what, she had no idea, but she thought then that he was rather handsome. "I..."

Rui found himself unable to retain his unexpected, growing anger at Tsukushi's intense gaze, roving over him and judging him, starting with his eyes and slowly working to his toes. In truth, he had liked the strange girl from the moment she walked out onto the emergency exit stairs and openly mocked Eitoku and voiced what he thought every day about the ridiculous place. But he had never known anything else, and so she interested him. She intrigued him.

In hopes of learning more, Rui had felt a strange inspiration to address her and her unresponsiveness compelled him; he had never been curious of other people before, for they were always curious of him and he despised it when anyone pushed their nose where it didn't belong. Now, he thought, it was probably because of her annoyance with him and obvious dislike that he found her interesting. Though some hated him, few ever let him really know; and even fewer were as vividly common but prettily stubborn as Tsukushi. He had been rather disappointed that she so easily gave in to the rich culture and dated Akira—he had felt almost betrayed that she didn't rebel longer, fight to keep them away and live her own life. So he had been pleasantly surprised to see her standing behind the counter of the dango shop, wearing a worker's apron and talking happily to the other girl there. She was still clinging to her independence.

When Tsukushi had seen him playing and run, he had almost been offended. He never bothered to analyze other people, not to mention notice them—but her complete disregard of him seemed to strike a chord somewhere, plucking at him in a place he had never known existed. Only Shizuka had ever made him self-conscious, but now she was doing it, too. When she had stumbled out into the emergency exit that day he had been fully prepared to tell her off—something he never did, had never done to anyone—and try to turn the tables on her.

But at that moment, her demeanor was so different; so... interested. Shizuka was coming home, but now, for now, Rui could amuse himself.

He regained some of his posture and rested one elbow on the wall. "Nothing," he said, "I was just finishing that song."

Tsukushi blinked at his rapid change in demeanor. "You seemed to be in the middle of it..." she pointed out.

With a shrug he replied, "It doesn't matter." Annoyed at his sudden aloofness, Tsukushi crossed her arms and shrugged, as well.

"Fine then," she said, "so you won't tell Tsukasa?"

Rui smiled at her then—one of those smiles that made Tsukushi's breath catch for a moment—and raised himself from the wall to walk towards her and sit down beside her; a little too close, she thought, her eyes wide at his proximity. She swallowed, wondering why suddenly, he was making her stomach tremble nervously. "Well," he murmured, "I suppose not. I could be bribed..."

He paused when he heard footsteps. He glanced up and Tsukushi saw him freeze; furrowing her brow, she lifted her head to wonder at whatever made him turn pale and cause his eyes to glaze ever so slightly.

A woman stood at the bottom of the stairs. She had long, chestnut hair, of the purest hue, shining silky. She was tall and thin and wore a stylish blouse and long skirt; but the most noticeable aspect of her, beside her smooth, creamy skin, was her eyes. They were large and brown with the longest lashes Tsukushi had ever seen. The woman looked like she had taken a dainty step directly out of a fashion magazine. Tsukushi gaped.

"Rui!" the woman called, smiling up at them. Tsukushi was forced sideways as he stood up quite suddenly and looked rather shaky on his feet. Suddenly, she wondered: was this woman Shizuka? There was a flurry of movement, then, as Rui quickly ran down the stairs and Tsukushi watched as he enveloped the woman in his arms. She heard him murmur, "Shizuka," and she couldn't watch—she didn't know why, but it seemed an encounter that she wasn't meant to see. So she hurriedly walked back to the doors and without looking at the couple at the bottom of the stairs, went inside and shut the entryway behind her.

Once inside she had to stop and take a breath, for it had all happened too quickly for her. The beautiful woman, the embrace, her head swam a little, and she had to walk to keep off the rush of blood to her head. Though it shouldn't have surprised her—Akira mentioned to her, "She was his first love, you know, it's a strange kind of romantic,"—she felt taken aback by the one person she found the most reserved leaping into the flames like a man without his head. She was comforted some by the thought of Akira waiting for her outside the school to offer her a ride. He would ask her for dinner, and she would politely refuse and show him the rubric for her history essay. Then he would laugh, pitifully, and squeeze her hand good-bye.

But still, she couldn't forget the image of Rui embracing this strange woman; it was emblazoned on the surface of her mind.


	15. Square One

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

15 – Square One

That night, Tsukushi came home to find an empty house, which hardly surprised her. Though 'empty' only constituted Tsukasa's absence, it was rather lonely, so she sought out Tama for company. The old woman was sitting in her room with her tea when Tsukushi came knocking. Inviting in the rather exhausted girl, Tsukushi did her homework there while the two talked for some time over life, love, and history.

So it came to her as a surprise when she awoke that morning to find herself in her own bed, wearing her clothes from the night before and her blankets tucked up around her chin. She struggled to life and found her way out of bed to change; after an energy-restoring shower she climbed down the stairs and into the dining room to find Tsukasa sitting at the small breakfast table she had set up herself in the corner. A large amount of food lay out, but she still came over with suspicion.

"You're home," she commented, "awake," her eyes narrowed, "and eating at a normal hour. Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" He glanced up at her with a grin, and he pushed back a few curls.

"Good morning to you too," he replied with a dry tone.

Tsukushi shrugged and sat down, finding a plate already set out for her, and piled on the western-style breakfast. After fully loading her plate, she looked up and saw Tsukasa staring at her with his fork halfway to his mouth and his eyes dreadfully wide. "What?" she asked, annoyed.

"You eat like a bear," he murmured, then remembered what he was doing and quickly put his fork in his mouth. Tsukushi shrugged. "But then again, you've always rather liked food," he added with a mischievous grin. She reached to slap his arm across the table, but he was too quick and caught her wrist in his hand, shaking his fork at her and saying, "Nuh uh, bad manners."

They ate in silence for some time before Tsukushi spoke up. "So, how did I end up in my bed last night?" she asked casually.

"I dragged your heavy body there when Tama told me you'd fallen asleep in her room." Immediately she blushed.

"Well," she tried again, "where were you?"

Tsukasa raised one eyebrow and chewed his food, waiting to swallow before responding. "There was a party last night, you really missed it!" She blinked.

"A party? Whose? And why should I care?"

Tsukasa, for extra effect, slapped one hand on the table and told her, "Shizuka's! She wanted to meet you, she said she saw you at the school. It was her welcome back party." He did look rather happy, she noted.

"Well, that's great." Her voice was bored.

"Come on, Tsukushi, you'll love Shizuka, and she'll love you. What's the problem, any way?" When she merely stabbed at her eggs with her fork and didn't reply, he grew a little frustrated. "Come on. You act so anti-social sometimes. Akira was there, you know."

At this, Tsukushi's fork dropped to her plate with a rather loud clang. "So, just because Akira's there, I should be, too? Well, no-body told me about any party. I don't even know her. Just lay off." She rolled her eyes and stood up—even though she clearly hadn't finished eating. She took her plate and moved to leave, but Tsukasa grabbed her by the arm before she managed to escape and got to his feet, so he stared down at her. She wasn't intimidated.

"Don't make me hurt you, Doumyouji Tsukasa," she told him. That early in the morning, she had more tolerance; enough tolerance, anyway, to give him fair warning. Tsukasa's temper had obviously flared, but she wasn't going to humor him. "Now let me go." It must have been purely the force of her voice, for he immediately released her and she pushed past him into the kitchen.

Well, he thought, maybe he should wait to mention the annual Hawaii trip tomorrow.

* * *

Shizuka's return was the talk of the school all that day, another one of the school's twisted romances. It was some sort of symbiosis, Tsukushi figured, between the Eitoku high society and the people whom they idolised. This Shizuka couldn't be that great, she knew; none of these rich girls were anything to admire, despite their outward appearances. Quite assured, Tsukushi spent the day listening to stories of Shizuka's modeling adventures in France and the attention she had received with an ad campaign for Tahiti that had her face all over it. She had grown quite tired of the gossip by lunchtime.

Tsukushi was carefully seeking out Makiko when she saw Rui: but he had already caught a glimpse of her before she could duck away into one of her many obscure corners, and she knew that despite his quiet nature, she wouldn't be able to escape him—especially with Tsukasa, Soujiro and Akira coming out from behind the hedge not seconds later, talking animatedly. Rui merely kept his eyes on her, rooting her to the spot.

"There you are, Tsukushi!" Akira announced as soon as he caught sight of her, and waved. She meekly waved back. "Look, Shizuka, here she is."

Tsukushi let her eyes linger on Rui's for a moment before the beautiful woman appeared. Immediately Shizuka brushed back some of her long, deep hazel hair and smiled a smile that would melt and charm anyone who looked upon it; Tsukushi was nearly drawn in. But she knew, with rich girls, appearances were nearly all there was to them. Cynically she looked at the F4 and thought, but not much more can be said for rich boys, either.

"You must be Tsukushi," Shizuka greeted her. Her voice was like a silver bell tapped ever so lightly. Slowly, Tsukushi managed a smile and approached them, politely, keeping her eyes anywhere but on the other woman's. It wouldn't do, she thought.

"Yes, and you are Shizuka-san?"

Tsukushi stared up at her when she said, "Yes. Pleased to meet you." There was a sort of low, resounding honesty in her tone: when their eyes met, Shizuka looked a sort of quiet victorious, and Tsukushi knew she had lost something—perhaps her assumptions, perhaps her commoner dignity. It was a silent exchange. Tsukushi exhaled a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"You as well," she spoke so quietly only Shizuka heard, and nodded, knowingly, with her soft eyes.

"Now that we're all acquainted," Tsukasa interrupted rather gleefully, "I say we decide on a guest list."

Tsukushi blinked and, forced to remove her eyes to stare at him, asked, "Guest list?"

"Well, duh," he leaned over and flicked her on the forehead with a finger, earning an annoyed huff. "We leave to summer holiday next week! Now that we have you coming, you can invite three people." He snorted. "As you only have three friends!"

"What! You don't know that," Tsukushi crossed her arms and scolded him, saying, "Besides, who said I wanted to go to Hawaii at all? You love to just assume my plans."

"What do you mean not going?" He looked genuinely confused, for a moment.

"I'm not going!" Tsukushi suddenly shouted at him, and at least three bystanders stared at her. She recovered herself a little and, with all the F4 and Shizuka watching them, told him, "I don't want to go on some silly, expensive trip to a silly place with a bunch of silly... rich people!"

"You...!" Tsukasa was at a loss for words, his infuriation was so great. How dare she, he began to fume, and immediately set to a response. "Well, who says I wanted you to come with us, anyway?" he shouted back.

"Well—" Akira interrupted, but he stopped when Tsukasa glared at him and looked ready to sock him in the eye.

"You did," Tsukushi told him, lowering her voice and taking a more reserved stance. Tsukasa paused at this, obviously quite unsure as to how to respond. Indeed, she had him there.

He stuttered a few times, "Well, er, I..." but eventually settled on, "It doesn't matter! I didn't want you to come any way." And with that, he narrowed his eyes at her and stalked away.

When Tsukasa disappeared behind the main building, Soujiro and Akira fixed their eyes on her—Akira was incredulous. "You're really not coming?" he asked, looking somewhat hurt. Tsukushi pursed her lips together.

"I don't want to go anywhere with him," she stubbornly replied. "Besides, I want to go visit home."

At this, Rui suddenly scoffed. Shizuka, who looked almost amused with the whole situation, glanced at him. "Home?" he asked, loudly, and looked at her with a demeaning skepticism. "Hiroshima? There's nothing in Hiroshima," he told her. Akira inhaled at his words. "I don't see why you'll have to make this difficult for everyone just because you and Tsukasa insist on fighting incessantly. Stop making up excuses." Then, he stuffed his hands in his pockets—quite aware of Tsukushi's horrified, irate expression—and followed the same path Tsukasa had taken away from the slowly thinning cluster they had formed.

"Tsukushi..." Akira tried to calm the bomb before it blew. He was far too late to crush the fuse. Tsukushi stared at her toes, eyebrows pressed tightly together, and she held her hands together so hard her knuckles grew white.

"What?" she asked, politely, quietly, and Soujiro actually took a step back. "I'm going to go now."

Akira nodded and stepped towards her, taking her hands apart and holding one in his own. He twined her fingers in his. "I'll be back later," he murmured to Soujiro and Shizuka. They both nodded, and Akira whispered something in Tsukushi's ear before he led her away.

"Well," Soujiro said to Shizuka, his mouth tilting up on one side in a sideways grin, "that's Tsukasa's little sister. Quite the story there, I might add."

"I would hope so," Shizuka replied in her long, demure voice. She smiled after the strange girl. "I've never seen Rui talk like that before, never."

With a nod Soujiro laughed, saying, "I don't think I have, either." He wasn't paying attention when Shizuka murmured, "And I've never seen that emotion on him, before..."

"We better find Tsukasa and Rui," Soujiro told her and she nodded.

"I think we'll find them in the university cafeteria. We were supposed to eat there, after all." And then, she added silently, she would convince Tsukasa to re-invite his funny sister to Hawaii. There was something hiding there, and certainly, she would find it.


	16. A Reasonable Resolution

**Note:** To CultKagome and Sesshoumaru--The summary still stands, but I don't believe Soujiro will be involved. I've never been quite as fond of him. All will become clear in time.**  
**

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

16 – A Reasonable Resolution

Akira glanced down at Tsukushi; she walked with her head leaned over, her eyes glued to the movement of her feet. He sighed and lightly rubbed his fingers over hers. "Tsukushi..."

"He's right." With a sigh she took her hand away and crossed her arms, standing still, then lifted her head to look at him. "It hurts because he's right. I didn't expect Rui to be the one to say it..."

"What do you mean?" asked Akira.

Tsukushi kicked a rock and started walking again, so Akira quickly came up into step beside her. "I'm holding on too tight—I keep thinking that somehow, Kazuya's going to come home and I won't need to stay here any longer... but this is my home now. I have to make it work, here, because I have nowhere else I can go." Suddenly, the bell rang. Tsukushi turned without a word, telling him, "I have to go to class," and then she quickly hurried back towards the school.

Akira stood, dumbfounded, as he watched her go. It wasn't more what she said, but how she said it: like she was coming to some horrible realization and it was crushing her. So it was, with his hands stuffed in his pockets and his eyebrows knit with his ponderings, Akira made his way to the cafeteria where the F4 were eating lunch with Shizuka. He considered having numerous choice words with Rui, but he knew that it would have little effect. Besides—it was Shizuka's day, and Akira decided it wasn't worth his while to press the issue now.

He walked into the cafeteria and quickly found the F4 among the university throng, but only Shizuka greeted him with, "Hey, Akira," when he took a seat.

"Look," Tsukasa said, apparently continuing an earlier conversation, "it's my villa, and I don't want her to come."

"But you invited her. And, don't forget, she's your sister." Soujiro nodded and added, "I agree with Shizuka."

It was obvious that Tsukasa was being ganged up on, and he never responded well to that, so Akira quickly interjected.

"Maybe for a moment, Tsukasa, you should actually consider someone's feelings besides your own. She feels displaced enough as it is, and then people like you and Rui have to go and stir everything up for her," at this he shot a look at both Rui and Tsukasa. Rui looked disaffected by the whole situation; in fact, he seemed dazed, staring off into space. "If she doesn't go, then I'm not going to, either."

Tsukasa balked and nearly spit his soda. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

Akira shrugged his shoulders. "Why should I be off having fun when my girlfriend is sitting in a huge mansion, completely alone, for summer break?" He raised one eyebrow suspiciously at Tsukasa.

"Well," Tsukasa growled, crossing his arms and looking smug, "she was the one who said she didn't want to go."

Soujiro rolled his eyes and interjected, finally, saying, "You didn't even ask her—you just told her she was going."

Watching the entire argument with amusement, Shizuka lightly tapped the table with her finger and the conversation stopped briefly. With their eyes on her, she delicately spoke up, "She does want to go—she just needs someone to tell her it's all right." She glanced at Rui, catching his eye for a moment; he quickly turned away. Whether he was guilty or merely annoyed, she wasn't sure, but his reactions entertained her greatly. "I'll talk to her."

Tsukasa opened his mouth to object, but Shizuka focused her eyes on him and he quickly closed it again; he sighed. "Fine."

Tsukushi was waiting for her chauffer that afternoon, sitting on the curb outside the school. She had stayed later that day to speak to a teacher about a paper—a rather stiff professor generally, he had positively critiqued her paper and informed her that she had great promise. The praise filled her with a kind of reason; a purpose for working hard and keeping up. With the day off from work and her friends busy, she had decided to go home instead, and called for a chauffer—it was a spoiled thing to do, but she had left her money at home and was quite too tired to attempt walking to the Doumyouji mansion from the school grounds. However, the day still held some promise, for Sakurako had hinted at meeting that evening for a drink. Tsukushi sighed, hoping to avoid confronting the emotions bubbling up from events earlier in the day.

A light hand on her shoulder disturbed her reverie. She blinked and glanced up at the girl stooping beside her. "Shizuka-san?" she asked meekly. Shizuka smiled at her and offered her a hand up from the curb, which Tsukushi took without thinking much about it.

"I wanted to talk to you," Shizuka said, and Tsukushi felt forced to listen by her soft, comforting voice. "I'm sure you know that Tsukasa says a lot of things he doesn't mean. So will you please reconsider coming to Hawaii? I know I would like it if you came."

This woman whom Tsukushi hardly knew wanted her company—and she felt compelled to nod her head in acquiescence. Shizuka smiled at her. "You'll enjoy it. Have you ever been to Hawaii?"

Tsukushi shook her head, feeling rather embarrassed to admit, "I haven't been out of Japan."

"Oh!" Shizuka gasped, and then she laughed. "Traveling is wonderful. One must do it at least once," she said wisely. It surprised Tsukushi that Shizuka seemed hardly patronising, despite her worldliness. Their conversation was interrupted when the chauffer appeared, driving up alongside where Tsukushi stood.

"I have to go now," she told Shizuka, who nodded.

"Talk to Tsukasa. He means well," she advised. Tsukushi smiled at her and opened the car door herself, stopping the chauffer in his tracks. He gave the girl in the back seat a wary look before getting back into the driver's seat and driving away.

* * *

Tsukushi awoke when she felt a poke in her side; she grumbled and tried to push away the hand pestering her, but she met with resistance and slowly opened her eyes. Yuuki was laughing at her and Tsukushi hastily sat up.

"We're almost there," her friend told her, pointing out the small, plastic window. Tsukushi looked out and sure enough, she saw a small formation of islands quickly rising up on the horizon. Her eyes widened.

"Wow," she murmured. Flying was still so new to her that nearly everything she saw took her by surprise.

"So where are we staying, again?" asked Yuuki. Tsukushi initially hadn't wanted to invite the other girl purely because she would have to find out exactly who Tsukushi was; but when Yuuki met her a few blocks from her school and her chauffer stopped them to ask if they wanted a ride, Tsukushi was forced to explain.

"I'm really Tsukushi Doumyouji," Tsukushi had told the confused Yuuki.

"Doumyouji?" she paused. "That name sounds familiar. Why did you say Makino?"

"My brother is Tsukasa Doumyouji, heir to the Doumyouji Corporation. My mother's name was Makino." But Yuuki, the understanding person that she was, had only nodded.

"I thought I recognized it. You must be rich, then!"

And that was it. Yuuki had only smiled, and so Tsukushi brought her to meet the F4 on the promise that she not mention the fact they were working together. "I can't see why you would work," she said, but Tsukushi shook her head.

"It's my last independence. If you don't look out, these people will suffocate you."

Tsukushi drifted back into the present and told her friend, "At one of Tsukasa's villas—it's on Kauai, I believe."

"Wow," Yuuki murmured and tucked a ringlet of hair behind her ears.

"Tsukushi," came a quiet, sing-song voice from behind, "You're awake!" Tsukushi unlatched her seatbelt and sat up to look over the back of her seat at where Sakurako sat. Makiko hadn't been able to come, for she had a sick relative in the hospital and a number of unfortunate circumstances—but Tsukushi, elated, had difficulty feeling too sorry for her. She hadn't wanted to come, anyway, she distinctly went out of her way to avoid the F4. Sadly, it made all too much sense to Tsukushi.

"I'm glad I could come," Sakurako told her in a somber tone, casting a sidelong glance at where Tsukasa sat some rows ahead. Tsukushi gave the girl a sympathetic smile.

"I'm glad you could come, too," she replied, and the three of them laughed.

Akira sat across from the trio and was finally presented with an opportunity to observe Sakurako and Tsukushi together. He knew there was something extremely conspicuous about Sakurako—he had 'dated' her, once—but he couldn't be sure what it was. Even now, no one seemed to know what had gone on between Tsukasa and Sakurako, and whatever it was didn't seem to be forgotten by the redhead; but, he thought, in an attempt to rest some of his suspicions, Sakurako did seem to be a rather good friend. It was something Tsukushi needed.

He sighed to himself. When had Mimasaka Akira become so concerned over a silly girl? But he knew his only answer was that he had very little choice in the matter. Akira had become quite involved with her and for quite inexplicable reasons: he hadn't even been dating her for more than a few weeks. Tsukushi had a way of drawing people in, he knew now, and he had fallen victim—hard. Whether she returned his feelings was debatable, but she seemed to enjoy their time together as much as he.

Tsukasa occasionally turned to watch his sister converse with her friends in trepidation. He had no way of knowing what exactly Sakurako was up to: by the look on Akira's face, he wasn't the only one doubting her, though he was sure it was for very different reasons. His friend had become quite enamored with his sister, he knew now, and he couldn't say he objected. Akira could often talk reason into her and she seemed to smile more when he was around. Tsukasa had violently opposed Tsukushi inviting Sakurako, but Shizuka had reminded him that he would allow her to bring three friends, and if she wanted to bring Sakurako, there was no reason why she couldn't. So far, his ex-girlfriend had retained her image of the demure, shy school-girl. However, Tsukasa was surprised that her barnacle-like ward Thomas hadn't yet shown his face; Tsukasa knew the German would jump on the opportunity that Tsukushi presented. He snorted and crossed his arms, turning back to the window.

Tsukushi did, in fact, know Thomas—she had met him one night at the club when she was staying out late with Sakurako. She had tentatively introduced her shy, freshman friend to the dance scene but when she had, she found it to bring out the much more outgoing side of Sakurako. They had accidentally met Thomas there and Tsukushi found him to be rather interesting, even if he did have a grotesque, western manner about him when he ate. There was a certain charm about foreigners. She did try to repress the continual notion of how much Thomas looked like Rui, though some of the resemblance was tempered by Thomas's lack of cultural refinement.

Soujiro, on the other hand, was rather placid about most situations. He had brought two extremely cute Eirin Academy girls and was going to enjoy them thoroughly.

Rui and Shizuka sat quietly beside one another in two of the foremost seats of the small jet. Shizuka, even after she had known the boy for most of his life, then couldn't tell what ran through his mind; he was always a closed book, sealed tight. Usually she stepped a little in to his life, but after his most unexpected show of emotion in scolding Tsukushi, she could hardly read him. He seemed to have closed off to her and she worried; she still loved him, sometimes testing him and hoping he still loved her in return; but he refused to let her have any leverage in the workings of his mind. The way Rui had spoken to that girl, Tsukushi, Tsukasa's little sister, the strange new person working her way into the unfamiliar territory of the F4's lives, it surprised Shizuka. He had had such a strange, fiery emotion building in his eyes, she smiled with the thought he might be able to move on. It did surprise her, however, that Tsukushi seemed to have already found someone in the previously rather promiscuous, lady-killing Akira, and he was much the better for it.

"This is your captain speaking," murmured the intercom with a fizzle, "we will be landing shortly. Please bring your seats and trays to their upright positions, fasten your seatbelts, and prepare for landing." There was a click.

Yuuki looked ready to burst with excitement. "I've never been to Hawaii before," she told Tsukushi, "I can't wait to see it!" The plane began to shake a little and Tsukushi swallowed, holding tightly to the arms of her seat. She couldn't wait to be on flat ground.


	17. Battling Without Allies

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

17 – Battling Without Allies

They took three cabs after landing. Tsukushi sat with Yuuki and Sakurako in the back seat and Akira in the front—she was glad she took the side seat when she rolled down the window and held her hand out into the moist, warm air.

Hawaii was beautiful. Tsukushi had never really seen palm trees before; they were so strange and exotic. She watched each one with fascination as they drove past, admiring their long, deep green leaves and the coconuts scattered on the ground about them. The humidity gathered all around her and cleansed her senses. She could hear the sounds of birds: strange, exotic birds. "This is so wonderful," murmured Yuuki. Sakurako nodded in agreement.

"You'll love it," Sakurako told Tsukushi with a smile. "Hawaii is like something out of a dream."

Their cab arrived shortly after Tsukasa, Rui and Shizuka's, so they were sitting on the front porch when Akira walked up to the front.

"I never get tired of this place," he said, admiring some of the large villa's well-manicured lawn. Tsukushi and Yuuki, however, still stood by the curb, dropping their bags on the sidewalk as they gaped.

"Amazing!" Yuuki cried, gesturing wildly at the enormous, Victorian-style house, "I've never seen anything like this!" It was quite beautiful, Tsukushi silently agreed as the two managed to retrieve their suitcases and follow Sakurako up the front steps. There were two couches, a hammock and a large chair on the porch, most of which became occupied when Soujiro's cab arrived.

Eventually the large group made their way indoors, and they split up to find their own rooms. Somewhere on the second floor Tsukushi lost Sakurako and Yuuki—they seemed to have found rooms that suited their tastes and immediately disappeared to unpack. Tsukushi went into one of the rooms on the ocean-facing side of the house, beside Sakurako and across from Yuuki.

She nearly stumbled when she saw Akira with his bags on the bed and his things already out on the dresser. "Ah, sorry," she apologized, taking a step back to close the door. He jumped up and waved a hand to stop her.

"Hey, hold on," he said, pulling the door open again. "There's a nice room right next to this one. I was sort of saving it for you."

Tsukushi couldn't help but blush at his thoughtfulness. He always beat her to the punch, she thought, and nodded her head. "A-all right." Akira walked out after her into the hall, showing her to the room he had mentioned.

"I can't believe how big this place is," Tsukushi commented as she began situating herself, and Akira walked back into his room through another door that directly connected them. Knowing she would only be there a week or so, she only used the top few drawers of the rather fancy, dark wood armoire sitting against the wall.

"I suppose," Akira's voice replied through the open doorway. "You should see the house Tsukasa owns in the Caribbean. Or, I suppose, you own it too, huh?" At this, Tsukushi laughed.

"I could never manage one of these places, not to mention a dozen of them," she retorted dryly. "Do you know what the plan is for today?"

Akira peeped his head in, wearing only his bathing suit. "I think we're all meeting in the back for some swimming. The water's a little cool right now, so we can use the pool and the hot tub."

"A pool!" Tsukushi said, astounded, "Well, I'll be. I should go see what Yuuki and Sakurako are up to."

Some minutes later, dressed in a swimsuit that she thought was far too fancy for a girl with her plain figure, Tsukushi emerged from her room and knocked on her friends' doors, only to find them empty. Akira came out and asked her, "Since your friends are gone, shall I escort you downstairs?" Tsukushi only laughed and took his arm.

* * *

Tsukasa was hardly surprised.

The strike had been quick, but not painless. Sakurako made her move.

Tsukasa was sleeping fitfully that night with a cool, ocean breeze drifting in through his open window. The last few days were moonlight dinners, games of beach volleyball, and a visit to a nearby resort of other Eitoku students that Tsukasa had found excruciating. Some of the girls had left that afternoon to go shopping while the men sat in the hot tub, listening to Soujiro's gory details of his two Eirin girls and pestering Akira and Rui. "We haven't done anything," was Akira's defense, while Rui merely stayed silent. That evening, they had all gone out on the town for dinner and a movie Tsukasa had found rather boring. There was a palpable tension whenever Sakurako was close to him, but he managed to avoid her, for the most part. Besides, Tsukushi seemed to be enjoying herself immensely.

He was awoken by yelling. Dazed by sleep, Tsukasa rubbed his eyes and slogged out of bed, and made his way in the relative dark to his door. He heard a familiar girl's voice; confused and somewhat irritable, he opened his door and went out into the hallway.

Sakurako stood in the middle of the hall wearing only a thin nightgown. She was crying, it looked like, for there were some lights on. Akira was standing against the wall looking terrified, like a deer caught in the headlights—Tsukushi was crying too, he noticed, and her curly-haired friend was hugging her a short distance away.

"Tsukushi!" Akira was saying, having recovered a little, "it's not what you think!" He moved towards Sakurako, but when she saw him, she cried louder. He looked trapped.

"All right!" Tsukasa boomed, catching nearly everyone by surprise, "What is going on out here?" Akira looked grateful when he saw his friend.

"Great! Someone who can make some sense out of this," he said, gratefully.

A small crowd was forming by the stairwell of Soujiro, two sleepy girls, and Shizuka. Rui was most likely sleeping through the whole commotion.

Tsukasa walked over to where Sakurako had stopped bawling as loudly and was now sniffling, rubbing her eyes. He glared at her, for a moment, before stopping in front of Tsukushi.

"I was just sleeping in my room," Akira said, walking up to where Yuuki was lightly rubbing Tsukushi's back. "I heard a weird noise from Sakurako's room, so I knocked on her door to see what was up. She opened the door and was half-naked, and as soon as she saw me she started screaming."

"He's lying!" Sakurako shouted instantly, her voice trembling with tears, "He walked in while I was sleeping and tried to take advantage of me!" Tsukasa's breath caught in his throat. He looked at his friend, who was staring incredulously at Sakurako.

"I did no such thing!" Akira shouted back at her. It was a rare moment that Akira raised his voice, Tsukasa noted. He wasn't much of a peacemaker, anyway, it was always Akira who had that job. Taking one look at Sakurako, who stood with the strap of her nightgown spilling off her shoulder and her face red with tears, Tsukasa shook his head.

"This is fucking ridiculous," he growled. He took a step closer to Sakurako, narrowing his eyes. "I can't believe you would pull a stunt like this." Suddenly, he slapped her across the face.

"Tsukasa!" Tsukushi cried, the first words she'd spoken since Tsukasa walked onto the whole situation. He wasn't going to listen to her, though—not this time. Sakurako had taken her little pranks too far. Ignoring his sister, who had grabbed onto his sleeve, he slapped Sakurako once more before she could regain her bearings. She cried out in pain, stumbling back against the far wall. Tsukushi pulled harder on him, crying, "Stop it, Tsukasa! Stop it!" He growled, watching Sakurako as she sobbed and held her face in her hands, sitting crumpled on the floor.

Tsukushi was crying again as well, her fingers digging into his arm as she held onto him. "I can't believe you, Doumyouji Tsukasa!" she cried, releasing him suddenly and taking a step back. She ran her hands through her hair and looked at Akira. "I can't believe you, either, Akira! How could you do this?"

Akira stared at her, appalled. "You actually believe her?" he gaped.

"She's my friend!" Tsukushi shouted. "Of course I believe her!" Her tears were slowly turning into a burning, raging anger. Her face turned scarlet red as she stared at the two boys. "I can't believe you would treat a girl that way, Tsukasa." Her tone turned deadly. "First she's taken advantage of, and then you hit her! What kind of person are you?"

Tsukasa opened his mouth to respond but Tsukushi smacked him across the face, sending his head reeling with the force of it. He looked just as irate as she as he rubbed the deep red mark that was forming on his cheek. It glowed angrily. Tsukushi walked past him before he could fight back and leaned down, lightly touching Sakurako's head. She pulled away from the touch, but looked up to see Tsukushi offering a hand to her. Carefully the redhead took it and Tsukushi helped her to her feet. Yuuki immediately came over to them, and without further words the two girls helped Sakurako down the hallway to the stairs, where the small crowd parted for them so they could make their way to the first level.

Tsukasa drew his hand away from his cheek and stared at it, then looked at Akira. His friend seemed equally astounded with the outcome. Suddenly, Tsukasa wasn't sure what to think—he knew Akira would never touch Sakurako, especially while dating Tsukushi; he wasn't foolish. Tsukasa growled. He couldn't possibly know now what Sakurako was thinking.

"This is insanity," Akira said suddenly, looking at Tsukasa, "how can she believe that girl over me?"

"She's planning something. The only thing we can do now is try to make Tsukushi believe you. If Sakurako has no allies... she's done for."


	18. Blackmail Juggling

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

18 – Blackmail Juggling

It was rare that Tsukasa could keep his head cool. But he knew now that normal means couldn't conquer the evil that was Sakurako: he would have to rein in all his anger and focus it on proving her wrong. Then, only then, would she finally leave him alone.

"What time did you hear the noise?"

Akira quickly replied, "Twelve forty. It woke me up and I looked at the alarm clock."

"Soujiro—what time did you first hear the commotion?"

"I think it was twelve forty-two, or nearly that. I didn't get up until I realized I wasn't dreaming."

Tsukasa tapped his pen on the table, running one finger down his notes. "What kind of noise was it, Akira?"

"It was some kind of scraping. Sakurako's room is right next to mine, so I could hear it through the walls. Then I heard Sakurako's voice, and it sounded like she was in pain, so I went to check on her." Akira sighed and put his arms on the table. "I went and knocked on her door, and it flew open. Her gown was half-off and her face was all red. It looked like she had been crying."

"Is that how Tsukushi saw you?" Akira shook his head sadly.

"Sakurako started screaming, then, and was saying, 'Don't touch me, don't touch me.' I wasn't even near her or anything, but it looked bad enough. Tsukushi and her friend came out of their rooms, and Tsukushi started crying."

Tsukasa sighed and set down his pen. "Soujiro, how long does it take to take advantage of a girl?"

"About ten—hey! How should I know?" Tsukasa narrowed his eyes.

"Look, if we want to prove Sakurako was lying, we have to figure out how long it would have taken Akira to go inside Sakurako's room and start molesting her." Akira's jaw dropped.

"But...!"

"Besides," Tsukasa interrupted, "you have everything on your side. If you had been trying to rape her she would have started screaming as soon as you walked in her room. Also—who tries to rape a girl in her doorway, anyway?"

Rui, who had been quiet up to that point, opened his mouth wide in a yawn. "This probably won't work. First, you'd have to find concrete evidence that it was twelve forty when Akira woke up—she's not going to believe the word of the alleged guilty." He did crack a very small, slight smile, and said, "But if you can find whatever made that noise, it might rack up some good material for your argument." Rui stood up then and yawned again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my sleep has been interrupted enough for one night."

Sure enough, it was nearly two a.m. when Soujiro, Akira and Tsukasa resigned and decided to go back to bed.

* * *

The three girls were nowhere to be seen the next morning. They had retired to the large room on the third floor and no one had dared to venture there yet; Akira paced about all morning, running his hands through his hair with a nervous twitch. "I don't understand why Tsukushi would believe that no good, lying..." But he wouldn't bring himself to call her that—he only sat down on a chair and let out a long sigh. "This is ridiculous. If you hadn't come in and slapped the girl, Tsukushi probably wouldn't have leapt to defend her so easily!"

Tsukasa stared at Akira, then narrowed his eyes. "You're blaming me?" he ground out. Soujiro could only sigh and drop his face in his hands.

"Yes, I'm blaming you!"

"I don't see how any of this is my fault! You're the one who went in the middle of the night to some girl's room!"

Halting Akira's rebuke, Soujiro stood up and put a hand on each boy's shoulder. "All right, all right, calm down. It's no one's fault but Sakurako's. So let's all just calm down and think of who we're going to send upstairs as a missionary." He glanced around the room. The two Eirin girls only shrugged their shoulders. Rui looked like he'd fallen asleep at the table, and the only one left was Shizuka.

"Don't worry," she said comfortingly. "I'm sure there's a reason for all this."

"Ha, sure!" said Tsukasa. He dropped to the chair with an audible skitter. Shizuka smiled at him.

"Chin up." With that, she leaned in the kitchen, saying, "Could I get three trays of breakfast brought to the top-floor room?"

* * *

It was mid-afternoon when anyone saw the four girls. Tsukasa was half-asleep on a lawn chair with Rui beside him on his belly, face smothered in the plaits; Soujiro and the two Eirin girls were tossing frisbees, with Soujiro focused intently on their jiggling chest areas; and Akira was sitting in the pool, crouched on the seat inside with the water lapping about his chin. One could hear the crashing of waves down the beach and a crowing of seagulls.

"It's nearly lunchtime," came Shizuka's voice from the open back door. Akira looked up and saw a sight: Shizuka, Tsukushi and Yuuki were all in their swimsuits, towels slung over their shoulders. Sakurako was nowhere to be seen. They were chatting amongst themselves and disregarded the three men completely. Tsukushi giggled as they passed, sandals making hollow slaps against the sand, causing Akira to jump. Tsukasa sadly noted his wide-eyed expression. The girls went to the water and left their sandals on the beach some yards away from where Tsukasa had been reclining, and began to test the ocean temperature with their toes.

Tsukushi glanced at Shizuka. "I think I do want to hear," she said, quietly, "what they have to say." Yuuki looked at her with a friendly smile, and Shizuka nodded her head.

"I'm glad we had a talk. I'll go check on Sakurako in a little while," the older woman told them. With that, Tsukushi left the small group and picked up her sandals, walking purposefully back to the pool area. Tsukasa and Akira were focused intently on her as she approached. Facing both of them, she dropped the shoes in the sand and said, in a deep and authoritative voice, "Tell me everything."

* * *

Sakurako was his bane. He didn't like her, he didn't want her around, and if he could have his way, she would be long gone. When she had followed him around like a sick puppy he'd even hit her once; Soujiro had actually taken him out (unexpectedly, of course, no one could or would dare such a feat under normal circumstances) over it, the man was so chivalrous. But Tsukasa knew better—she was a conspirer, and when he had finally told her off, she had threatened him in the one place it hurt: Tsukushi.

The uproar over the illegitimate daughter had caused quite the ripple, and the change in scenery had been enjoyable to Tsukasa. He had always liked his little sister, and though he only saw her a few times a year, he had grown rather protective of her. His father eventually weaseled out of them that they both knew their relation, as associating with the children of ex-workers was hardly something the great Doumyoujis would ever have 'sunk to.' But Tsukasa's father was a good man, and seemed to care as much for the strange, poor girl as his other two children.

Weeks before the Aoikes' announcement of leaving to England, Tsukasa had taken a few days of his winter break to stay at the Doumyouji vacation manor in Hiroshima. Naturally, Tsukushi stayed with them there—how the small girl consistently escaped his mother's radar, he could never grasp—and the two spent all their time together doing things Tsukasa had never imagined he would be inclined to do with anyone: going to amusement parks, playing on the beach, shopping; but over the years she had wormed her way down, down somewhere into a special part of his heart reserved only for she and Tsubaki. (Tsukushi was less violent, though, when she was in a fair mood.)

But, so it was that he wondered what sort of feelings he did feel for her. She was his half-sister, after all, so he wrote it off as merely unpracticed sibling love; without the many years he and Tsubaki had spent together, he only knew good times with Tsukushi and idealized her. But when they were together, there was something strange; she wasn't anyone he had ever seen before.

Tsukushi could only be described as her own. They always argued, always pushed each other's buttons like a sport of their own making. She was the most obstinate beast; when they were children, she would shove or hit him without any fear of repercussions when he called her names and insulted her family. And every time they saw one another, she was more stubborn, more intent; she stood for none of it and made sure he knew it. Now, he thought it ironic and almost unfortunate that both his sisters were so obnoxiously similar.

But it was that cold night when Sakurako found her first royal flush. She was there on vacation, merely passing through, she said; she was one of the worst people, one of the few who Tsukasa actually went out of his way to avoid. She had begun her conquest initially by seducing his two easy friends, playing the appropriate role of innocent, boy-shy freshman looking for the love of her life. Of course, she told this to both of them, allowing her to work herself into the small group; once there, she, in tears, told them she only loved Tsukasa. (Quietly, of course, Soujiro and Akira were equally relieved of their duties as the 'first time' and never once mentioned their trysts to one another, their first mistake in Tsukasa's mind.) He was rather perceptive—when he wanted to be—and quite easily called her bluff.

So it became that Sakurako was nearly a barnacle on Tsukasa, a fixture, following him less-than-secretly and using every opportunity to get him in bed. However, he hadn't anticipated the lengths she would go to rope him.

Tsukushi had fallen asleep on a lawn chair, bundled in awkwardly large boots, a jacket, mittens, and the ski hat he had given her because "it looks less dorky than those earmuffs." Tsukasa had ordered hot chocolate for the two of them and was only gratified that he could have both steaming cups to himself. The moon was high in the sky as he watched her sleep, so quiet and with a way that seemed almost sad; she was still taking the death of her mother with difficulty and her foster father had mentioned to Tsukasa that his visits really lifted her spirits.

His actions had been impulse; nothing more, nothing less, and nothing that he supposed could be called on him under different circumstances. Tsukasa had lightly kissed her in her sleep, when she was blissfully unaware—and nearly fallen off his chair in surprise at himself. A very affectionate exchange between siblings, he could write it off as, if only Sakurako hadn't been. If only there wasn't Sakurako, he always said, every day after every day when she victoriously walked wrapped like a poisonous serpent around him.

He had to credit her for one thing: she certainly had done her research.

The rest was blackmail. She had spit on her shoes when she walked out of the shadows of the mansion. "The commoner's your half sister," Sakurako had hissed, "and look, I bet you've gone and loved her." Every fiber had wanted to knock her block off; turn her lights out. Tsukasa clenched his fists. "Imagine when I tell your father; he'll be disgusted with you. And then your friends! Won't Eitoku love to know! And her family, they've taken such pity on her until now. It's a shame I'll have to ruin her chance at life."

"Tell me exactly what it is you want."

That was where it had all begun. Now—especially now—there was no way out for Doumyouj Tsukasa.


	19. Resolution Ahoy!

**Note:** Oh BOY are you guys going to hate me for this. So, I wrote these last ten-or-so chapters quite a while ago and was hoping to finish the entire story before I published it. However, I began writing a novel with the goal of finishing before the end of the school year, and it has completely absorbed me. Compared to it fan-pleasing fiction has become obsolete and uninteresting to me. It is good grunt work, though, so I may come back this summer. I have the entire story planned in my stupid little head and it will be worthwhile if I get it out. No one will know what hit them--if I do it. Wish me luck on the novel, and if you are interested in the out-of-the-box things I've been working on, you can check me out at Adultfanfiction (I can't provide the link here, but if you IM me at 'erie chan' I can tell you) and see exactly how crazy I've become. You are warned. Sorry, guys, I really loved the reviews though!

**A Girl from Someplace Sweeter**

19 - Resolution Ahoy!

So it was Tsukasa was walking to his room when he saw a familiar red head poking out from her door. He stopped and without a moment's hesitation stepped behind the corner, peering out just enough to see her with one eye. She glanced up and down the hallway and cautiously proceeded out of her room, something clutched behind her back. When she turned away to look more closely at the stairwell, she was, in fact, holding a bronze metal fire prod against herself in a sore attempt to conceal it. Tsukasa furrowed his brow. She looked to be smuggling, almost. He didn't remember there being any fireplaces upstairs. Sakurako was moving closer and it wouldn't be long before she caught a glimpse of Tsukasa's dark curly hair poking around the edge, so he leaned back and propped himself up against the wall completely out of sight, for the moment.

But, he thought, perhaps this provided a clue. Besides, Tsukushi had no respect for him anyway; if he was wrong, there was nothing left to lose.

With a burning anger Tsukasa walked around the corner, finding himself face to face with Sakurako. She let out a squeal of surprise, and then another of fear when Tsukasa used his lightning reflexes to grab her arm, pulling it free from her grip behind her back. The fire prod dropped to the floor with a loud clang, and when he reached for it, Sakurako began shouting.

"I'll ruin her!" she cried, lunging to grab the prod, but Tsukasa used his body to block her. He was calm; he was rational; he stared down at the girl coldly.

"You think she'll believe you, a bimbo, a bitch, a whore, over her brother?" He laughed.

Sakurako, steadying herself, smiled up at him. "Yes—because she hates you now." Tsukasa pondered this for a mere moment. Perhaps, but it mattered very little anymore: he and Akira had told her all there was to tell—and all that Tsukasa could tell, for some secrets he would take to his grave—and she seemed closer to believing them. He was on the brink now. He either climbed up, or fell.

When Sakurako shouted again, Tsukasa grabbed the prod up off the floor. The first to see them was Tsukushi, as she had run up the stairs upon hearing the first shout of alarm; her eyes were wide and her eyebrows were drawn in fury. She looked ready to tackle Tsukasa as soon as she saw him standing, fire prod in hand, with a howling Sakurako in front of him. Shortly after came Akira, Soujiro, Rui and Shizuka. However this time, Tsukasa was prepared.

"Put up your hands, you witch," he commanded Sakurako. She glared at him and ceased her shouting. "Come on. This is yours," Tsukasa shook the fire prod. He glanced at Akira, who was standing with a slack jaw and an appalled expression. Sakurako refused to respond, so he grabbed her hands and held them up. They were blackened from holding the sooty tool.

"What is going on?" Tsukushi said at last. She sounded tired, now, as if her anger had faded into mere disappointment. Tsukasa gave her an earnest look.

He cleared his throat. "I saw this girl sneaking out of her room with this. Immediately one wonders why, as the only fireplace in the house is on the main floor." Now, he refused to look at Sakurako. "Akira, tell them what you told me. What you heard last night before you went into Sakurako's room."

All eyes turned to Akira and he cleared his throat, giving Tsukasa a venomous glare. "I woke up to scratching on the wall. Tsukushi, you know this all ready."

"I don't believe you," she replied instantly.

Akira went on, unfazed. "Sakurako then began to cry in pain. As I've learned, she showed you all the bruises I supposedly gave her—when I wasn't in the room."

At this, Tsukasa went, "Ah, hah!" The group compressed into the rather small hallway all turned to stare. "Now, why would anyone be sneaking around with a prod? I believe I know why." He looked at Sakurako, whose face was hidden by a few stray locks of red hair. Pushing past her he went across the hall to her room and opened the door. "Tsukushi, Akira." Both addressed jumped. Tsukasa was almost glad, now, that he had come to learn some of Sakurako's twisted inventions. If his hunch was correct, he would be completely vindicated and Tsukushi would return to Akira and him; if he was wrong... Tsukasa didn't feel it worthwhile to continue thinking of the negative. Instead he went inside the room, Tsukushi tentatively following. Akira meekly came in after them.

Empty. Tsukasa gaped. The walls were whitewashed and unmarked. He came closer to the division between Sakurako and Akira's rooms but saw nothing. He heard Tsukushi tapping her toe; he could almost smell the smoke pouring from her ears. Surely there would be something here, Tsukasa thought. He dropped the prod to the floor and began at the corner, between the bed and the wall, and worked his way across, over the large painting and towards the adjoining wall—but there was nothing.

"So, for what reason has Sakurako been accosted for the second time today?" Tsukushi's voice was tweaked with rage. But Tsukasa could manage pressure. He excelled in it. He ignored Tsukushi's question and then, wondering why he hadn't thought of it before, carefully lifted the painting from its hanger and hefted it to a resting position on the ground against the wall. Sure enough, small, black, deep lines covered the wall where the painting had been.

"Sakurako!" Tsukasa yelled quite suddenly. He heard the sound of scraping feet and a shout of indignation; a moment later he saw Soujiro, pulling the girl by the arm into the room, where she escaped from him and sat on the far side of the bed. "Show us your bruises. The ones you say Akira gave to you." She looked at him with eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Sakurako was infuriated. Slowly she rolled up her sleeve to where her pale, creamy skin was marred by a large bruise. Tsukasa was surprised at his own tranquility in the matter. Taking one look at the bruise he lifted the fire prod and brought it over. The handle was decorated with intricate patterns, one of which was a rounded protuberance with vine-like engravings. He held it beside the bruise and Tsukushi, who had been watching with increasing worry, saw the bizarre likeness between the red imprint and blue shape on Sakurako's arm and the prod's handle. Her eyes grew wide and angry.

"Sakurako..." The redhead only looked at her, then at Tsukasa, whose face had turned to one of gloating. Sakurako, however, showed no remorse; she pulled back down her sleeve and turned to face Tsukasa. She looked vindictive—but she said nothing and instead stood up and looked at Tsukushi.

"You don't belong here," she told her in a low, threatening tone. Tsukushi was paralyzed in the middle of the room. Akira watched her with apprehension, looking between the two girls. Sakurako hissed, "You can't succeed in this world." She sprinted from the room, pushing through the small group that had assembled of Soujiro, Rui, Shizuka and the two Eirin girls. She disappeared into the hallway, with all heads turned to watch her go.

It was later in the evening when things had settled down. Sakurako took her things and called a cab; whether to a hotel or the airport, no one was sure, but it mattered very little. The house was quiet. All the girls besides Tsukushi had gone to the jacuzzi alone. Rui was sleeping on the couch and Soujiro was out conversing with his womenfolk.

* * *

Tsukushi was sitting at the table drinking a fruity ice beverage when Tsukasa sat down beside her and across from Akira. The three had not spoken since the events of the afternoon. There was a comfortable silence before Tsukushi spoke at last.

"Why?"

The question was simple, but Tsukasa wasn't sure he knew the answer. Passively she watched him.

Tsukasa stroked his chin for a moment. "She's not good. I wanted to warn you, but," he paused, and having no real reasonable excuse, said, "I didn't want to get you involved." He gave his sister a serious look and sighed. All Tsukushi knew to do was nod.

"I should have believed you," she said at last. Her eyes were focused intently on the table and her bangs fell in front of her face. Knowing he couldn't comfort her, Tsukasa only watched. Akira interjected.

"Don't say that. It wasn't anyone's fault—only Sakurako's." He patted her shoulder and drew his chair up beside her. "I can't say it doesn't hurt me that you doubted me, though." Tsukushi lifted her head to look at him and he smiled.

Watching the moment Tsukasa thought that someday, perhaps, could tell her the story. For now, he watched as Tsukushi and Akira spoke quietly to one another and bid him farewell with smiling faces to go for a walk alone together. He only nodded his head and they left, hand in hand.


	20. The Trap

**A Girl From Someplace Sweeter**

20 – The Trap

School was dreary. That all, really, was what Tsukushi felt upon arriving on the school grounds after spending her summer vacation in a tropical paradise. There were no singing birds or broken coconuts littering the grassy walks, only great whitewashed buildings and quietly murmuring students dressed in pale-colored uniforms. Her outlook was reasonably bleak.

Tsukushi was surprised when the first person she saw upon stepping onto campus was Sakurako. She walked quickly, crossing the end of the lane without noticing Tsukushi, and disappeared around a short wall.

Tsukushi was still quite honestly confused regarding her brother and the deceitful girl, but she knew that if Tsukasa didn't want to share, he wouldn't, and if he did, it would take time: but Tsukushi was willing to wait. She honestly had all the time in the world. Glancing at her watch she saw it was nearing time for class to start and she hurried to the building.

--

Rui had not come to the emergency exit since the end of summer break. Tsukushi sat quite alone with her books enjoying the breeze, her legs stretched down the stairs, and her hair loose around her shoulders. Tsukasa had slyly arranged for one of his many employed hairdressers to track her down and nearly jump her when she came out of the bathroom one evening in her pajamas. She had been strapped to a chair and her hair was forcibly cut and styled by a man she most certainly recognized from one fashion magazine or another. She had gone to bed with a sense of elation and self-confidence. Now she was leafing through a book for information with which to write a history paper.

Tsukushi failed to be surprised when the door opened some way behind her. "Hello, Hanazawa Rui," she said in the bored tone she usually used in addressing her brother's nearly inanimate friend.

"Ah, pardon me," came a feminine voice. Tsukushi jumped and turned to see Shizuka standing at the entryway, watching her curiously.

"I'm sorry!" Tsukushi cried immediately. "I thought you were—"

"Rui?" She laughed and smiled. "I'm sorry, I've been tying him up lately. But we are all going out tonight and you ought to come with us." Before Tsukushi could respond—she had stood up by then and was standing against the wall, watching the tall, gorgeous woman with wide eyes—Shizuka added, "I'm having a birthday party soon, and I was hoping you could come. Your brother and the others will go, too." She smiled radiantly.

Tsukushi only managed to stutter an affirmative. Shizuka said, "It's small and casual! You can bring a friend, if you'd like." Tsukushi's mouth bobbed open and closed like a fish.

"Ah, I'll be there," she managed. Shizuka nodded and waved, departing with a brief, "Good bye!" She closed the door behind her and left Tsukushi dumbfounded on the landing.

She sat back down on the stairs and propped up her chin with her elbows.

The week had been all right. She worked four nights and saw Akira one, but felt guilty because she hadn't had much time to see either him or her brother. Yuuki had had her over for a sleepover and they ended up spending the whole weekend trying to wind down from the crazy Hawaii trip and sort things out. Tsukushi found Yuuki was one of the best friends she could have asked for here in Tokyo: she had good advice, was willing to listen, and always was willing to trade of the telling of one problem for another. She had her own issues at school and even though they tended to not be as monumental, Tsukushi loved hearing about her life because it was the same she had had back in Hiroshima. She missed it more than she would often admit.

She sat through the bell, lost in her own thoughts. It would be good to go out with Shizuka and the others, but sometimes she looked at herself and her life and wondered what she was doing, and where she was going. What was she doing with the rich people she couldn't stand? Why was she conforming to their cushy, do-nothing lifestyle? She had come upon this realization after coming back from Hawaii, when she caught a glimpse of the amount of money they'd spent there, simply on shopping downtown and taking cabs everywhere they went. How was she getting _used _to this kind of nonsense? "Why am I here?" she said out loud.

Tsukushi grabbed her head around the ears and moaned. It was like a nightmare, where she couldn't pry herself away because she'd already gotten too deep. She felt strongly for Mimasaka Akira—that was for certain—but did she love him? Could she really become a part of the same high society she'd once hated? Once, even—she hated it now just as much as ever. Her brother was a part of it. Akira was a part of it. Even her friends (she couldn't imagine not thinking of Shizuka as a friend now) were a part of it. But they were only the pleasant face of the black void of the elite class.

Tsukushi didn't cry much, but she cried then. She missed her home and her family. She missed Kazuya, who was like a friend and a brother wrapped into one daring but sensitive boy. She missed the cool dryness of Hiroshima and the simple life she'd led there. She missed the life she'd had ahead of her, secured by her "uncle," Kazuya's father, and the world that was simple and in the firm grasp of her capable hands.

Now, everything was out of control. Doumyouji's mother could cut her off at any time, or come and make trouble, or any number of things. She was a hard-headed woman and Tsukushi remembered the phone call she'd gotten: "If there is _any_ disturbance in my household, I will not have trouble removing you from it." She couldn't be completely sure that her father would protect her—women were wily, manipulative creatures, something Tsukushi wouldn't easily forget.

Eventually she remembered she was probably a good ten minutes late for class, but she was too tired now from crying to care much. She wiped her face with one arm and sighed, leaning her head on her shoulder to look out the railing at the grounds.

She felt suddenly like things needed to change soon. She hadn't realized it before, but even though she felt like she ought to be happy—that she _should _be happy—she simply wasn't.

When she stood up, she wondered how she hadn't seen him there.

Hanazawa Rui sat down the stairs, only his legs visible from around the winding emergency exit. He must have come while she was crying, Tsukushi thought with a sudden horror. When she stumbled back and braced herself on the wall, she made a noise and Rui leaned forward so he could see her.

"Going to class?"

She was speechless. "I, uh, er…"

He had a strange look on his face. It wasn't one of placidity, like usual; it wasn't angry, and it wasn't a smile. It was some sort of all-encompassing in-between expression.

"What is it?"

It wasn't curiosity, either.

Tsukushi cleared her throat, hastily wiping at her eyes once more, hoping they didn't look as red as they felt. "N-nothing," she said, and stepped back so she was further up the stairs and closer to the door.

"Nothing? Then why were you crying?"

Anger always saved her.

"Nothing," she said, more firmly this time. "It's none of your business." She turned around and opened the door, and put one foot inside of it.

Rui's voice wasn't judgmental or crude, or any of the things Tsukushi might have expected. He looked at her and said, "If you want to escape, you better do it soon, before they all get too attached to you." His eyes bored into her and she gulped, turned away, and slammed the door behind her.

--

Akira wasn't the only one to notice that Tsukushi was exceptionally quiet. Tsukasa was watching her stir her drink, occasionally sipping it, but never looking up from the patterned tablecloth. Eventually Akira led her off to the dance floor, and Tsukasa pondered her.

Even though the situation had been entirely cleaned up (in his opinion), he still felt he and his sister were further apart now than ever before. It hurt his head. He drank down the rest of his cocktail and got up, offering a hand to Shizuka. "A dance?" Rui didn't bat an eyelash as they left together. Soujiro was already gone, chasing women, and when Tsukushi and Akira came back, Rui was sitting in almost the exact same position he had been about five minutes before.

Akira wanted to make himself useful, so he went to get he and Tsukushi more drinks. She'd been a little distant all night, and he'd tried to talk to her, but she only seemed to let go and come back to the real world on the dance floor. On their way back she'd sunk back into herself and was lost in thought.

Tsukushi was silent and Rui watched her without looking away. Finally she rolled her eyes and stared back, saying, "What? What is it?"

The shrug of his shoulders was almost imperceptible. "Will you be at the birthday party?"

Tsukushi blinked.

"Of course."

Rui only nodded his head and looked away. But his hand was clenching his shirt, and she opened her mouth to speak again, but Akira came back with the drinks and she forgot about it.

--

Akira couldn't put his finger on it, but in the time between when they had come back from Hawaii and the night before Shizuka's big birthday bash, he and Tsukushi had come closer than ever before, and then she took an enormous step back. Now he tugged at the rope and tried to bring her to him, but she only drew further away.

Tsukushi did her homework in the lobby again, but now there was a round, wood table with a lamp on it off to one side between the great stairs and the door. She didn't fall asleep working anymore, but when Tsukasa came home and began to make a racket—it was just his way of things, he couldn't be anywhere without making noise—she took her things upstairs and worked on her bed. He had noticed that she was reclining back into being anti-social, but he didn't say anything.

Secretly, Tsukasa had been engineering a plan. The school had a four-day weekend in less than a month, and he wanted to get his sister back to Hiroshima to visit. The Aoikes were returning from Europe on holiday and he'd already spoken to them about it. They were more than happy to have their surrogate daughter come back for a visit.

Akira had come to him for advice, something he never expected—or really wanted. "You're her brother," he'd said, "what's wrong? Do you think she's sick?"

"I think she just misses home," Tsukasa had said. He couldn't be sure, but just when she'd seemed about to relax into her new life, she pulled back.

He made a big deal about Shizuka's party, taking his sister out to find her a good dress for the occasion, but she'd refused. She was bringing Yuuki, like Shizuka had asked, and they were going to dress within their means. It was harder these days for Tsukushi to hide her job, but sometimes she simply didn't try. She was saving up her money, and she figured in a year she could afford her own place. It was an idle thought, though—her father probably wouldn't allow it.

The night before the party, Akira had come over to take his girlfriend out for the evening. At the door she was waiting for him, but she asked, "Can we walk somewhere, instead of going out?"

Akira liked walking in the evening when they got a break from the hot summer day, and easily agreed. He took up her hand in his and she didn't pull away, but she didn't return his grip.

The houses faded away into the park-like area that acted as a buffer between the rich, upper class houses and the apartment complexes to the west. It started at the sidewalk and a trail led off through a grass lawn, which was well-manicured and lit by lampposts. It reminded Tsukushi of a photograph she'd seen of London at night.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?"

Akira wasn't used to being forward. He didn't like being held at a distance. He wanted in—he liked older women because they were always open, and that's what he had liked about Tsukushi. But now she was closing herself off to him and he could only feel cold in return. He was about talking things out. Not about feelings.

Tsukushi stopped, and her hand dropped from his. Akira didn't reach back for it. Her eyes were focused ahead, and with a sigh she said, "If I can tell anyone, I should be able to tell you, right?"

Akira nodded. He felt blank.

She turned to him. "It's not right for me to like you," she told him. "I'm not supposed to be here. I don't want to fall into the trap of the rich people. I want to earn my position in life, not just leech off my rich father for everything. Not like all of you."

This should have hurt him, but he knew it was true. Tsukushi had always been frank with them. He nodded again.

"I want to have a normal life. This whole Hawaii fiasco taught me this. The conspiracy, the lies, the luxuries, the wastefulness—I don't want that for myself."

"It doesn't have to be that way."

"I know," she replied. She looked back down and put her hands on her thighs. "I just feel lost here. I'm trying not to get sucked in to this lifestyle that you have. That Soujiro has, and Rui, and Tsukasa, and even Shizuka." Tsukushi laughed then, a bitter laugh, and put her hands up and behind her head. She leaned back to look up at the night sky. "I like you, I do. But I don't want to get caught up in you."

Akira thought he understood, now. He reached over to take her hand and pulled it down, and then followed with the other one, so she faced him with their hands down at her sides. He leaned down and kissed her, and dropped her hands so he could hold her face. He touched her jaw and neck and ear when he kissed her, and it was the deepest kiss they'd shared.

When they finally drew apart, Tsukushi was breathless and her cheeks were flushed. The flush traveled down to her throat and she shivered.

"Okay," Akira said. "We can do commoner things. Do you want to go to the zoo next weekend?"

"The zoo?"

"Sure."

"I'd love to."

This hadn't been what she wanted, but she felt too hot to turn away. The warmth spread when they went home, and she couldn't sleep. It grew the whole rest of the next day and when she and Yuuki reached the party, dressed in long skirts and thin tops while everyone else wore tuxedos and ball gowns, she thought she might burn up.


	21. A Tenuous Decision

**A Girl From Someplace Sweeter**

21 – A Tenuous Decision

Yuuki was nervous, but she always managed to fit in. She was completely accepting of other people and could easily adapt herself to her surroundings—she was likeable and pretty, and sometimes Tsukushi envied her personal flexibility.

They had come to the party in Yuuki's older sister's car. They could have taken the chauffer, but Yuuki didn't even suggest it when Tsukushi asked if they could be dropped off. They knew each other well enough now.

The party was glamorous. There were fancy foods they'd never seen before, and some that Tsukushi had seen but still didn't like very much. They easily found the F4 and while Yuuki wanted to stay with them for the evening, the idea didn't much appeal to Tsukushi and she left to wander about on her own.

"Nice to see you all again," Yuuki said as her friend went back to the hors d'ouvres table. Akira greeted her warmly; Soujiro greeted her even more warmly. Tsukasa only said "Hello" with a grunt and Rui nodded his head. Soujiro easily disengaged himself from a tall woman in a rose-colored gown to stand beside Yuuki and ask her personal questions. She easily responded and didn't shy away from his forwardness like most girls; he liked it.

Tsukasa himself was bored and took a drink to sit by himself on the wood porch of the building at the center of the party. When Rui left, too, nobody noticed. Akira charged himself with keeping Soujiro at bay, and so everyone was busy.

Tsukushi was talking to a young business man when Rui came up to them. The man had confessed to her a long-standing crush on Shizuka. He had been invited as a favorite employee of a corporation president, but it was only a favor. "I know I don't have a chance," he told her, "but I'd like to congratulate her on her successful ad campaign, anyway."

Rui wasn't often surprised, but it always astounded him how easily people opened up to Tsukushi—even complete strangers, it seemed. When he approached, the business man smiled and said, "It was good to meet you, Makino-san," and walked away.

"You go by Makino here?"

Tsukushi shrugged her shoulders and put a cracker in her mouth. "If I say I'm Doumyouji, people get too scared to talk to me, or ask questions, or say, 'You must be Tsubaki?' If I were Tsubaki, you'd know." She put one hand on her hip. "My situation here is really ridiculous. It's just easier to pretend I'm somebody that nobody knows."

"Don't you think you should stand up to your name? Aren't you giving up too easily?"

Tsukushi took a full glass of wine from the table nearby and gulped it down. She returned the cup to a passing waiter, and he gave her a wide-eyed look.

"Aren't you being too obnoxious?" She crossed her arms in front of her. What was it that irritated her? It was probably his disarming smile and completely aloof, untouchable attitude. It made her feel weak: charmed by him just as much as his personality angered her. It was a step forward and a step back, all at the same time. She couldn't have firm ground with him. "Of all people, you shouldn't tell me what to do." She jerked her head to the side.

Shizuka was standing near the podium, talking with a reporter and two other glamorous-looking women. Not nearly as beautiful as she, of course, but close enough. "We all know how you feel about her," Tsukushi said, leaning forward. Her head was near his, but he didn't move back, like a lesser man might have. "So why don't you just go for it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rui's cheeks colored a little, and he looked away. His brows were furrowed.

Tsukushi rolled her eyes and came up next to him, elbowing him in the side. "We all shy away from some things," she said. He looked at her again.

"They're different." His eyes were stern again, and hard, and the grey color made them look like marbles.

"Not so very much."

They were at a stalemate. Tsukushi took another glass of wine, and drank it, and hiccupped before she managed to finish it; he grabbed it away from her and when she objected, he had to reach out with one hand and grab her arm so she wouldn't fall over. "Just how much have you been drinking?"

She hiccupped again and said indignantly, "I'm fine!"

Akira held one hand to his chin and stroked it thoughtfully. Rui was talking more to Tsukushi in five minutes than he ever saw in a day. Women always fell at their feet—the F4—but Rui had always been the favorite. He wasn't used to someone disliking him, Akira supposed; that's what made him so interested in Tsukushi.

That's what he told himself.

Rui didn't mention her any more when she wasn't around. Even with Shizuka back, he seemed only to get darker and colder. Akira thought of himself as the mental health manager of his little group, and so he kept an eye on his friend. He just hoped nothing would happen at this party to make things worse. He hadn't realized how tenuous the strings were until he and Tsukushi had talked in the park.

But his hopes were dashed.

--

Shizuka talked with Tsukushi about her sudden decision to go back to France, after the party. She pulled herself away from the reporters and astonished friends and family to talk to her. "It's a great thing you're doing," Tsukushi said, a little drunk, but still standing straight and still in a sound frame of mind. "But won't Rui miss you? And won't you miss Rui?"

Shizuka raised one eyebrow, smiling at Tsukushi when she stumbled slightly and straightened herself. "I think I'm leaving him in good hands," Shizuka replied, and the younger girl only sighed and nodded her head.

"We'll do our best!"

"I'm sure you will."

For everyone but Tsukushi and Rui, the announcement was a complete surprise. Tsukasa asked her to stay for them—"We'll miss you, Shizuka!"—but Akira asked her to stay for Rui—"Please. Don't leave him here."

--

Tsukushi came out to the emergency exit after she ate her lunch with Urara-sensei. She hadn't told the nurse her problem yet, but Urara was always willing to wait. They talked at least once a week.

"I know you're here," she said, and Rui laughed, like the sound of a bell chiming. He stood up and came over to the railing. Tsukushi looked at him from the side. "Aren't you upset?"

"No."

"Aren't you going to go after her?"

"No."

"Sure."

He glared at her, and for once, Tsukushi felt pleased that _she_ was the one antagonizing _him_. "And you call me one not willing to step up to the plate."

"It's not as easy as all that," Rui told her.

"Sure."

They stood side-by-side and looked out over the grounds. "You don't play your violin much now," she commented.

He was leaning forward, over the rail, and propped up his head on his fist so he could look at her. He let out a sigh, and Tsukushi thought she was seeing an unexpected part of Rui. It looked like an expression of helplessness. Without realizing what she was doing, she had put a hand on his shoulder, and clasped it. He didn't move, but their eyes locked.

"I don't think," she said to him, "that you have the right to tell me that I am a weakling, when you won't even tell the girl you love that you want her to stay. When you won't go after her into the wild. Are you afraid?"

"Of what?"

"Of having to fend for yourself? That's what the real world is like, Hanazawa Rui. You're going to have to deal with it eventually."

He growled. It was a humorous sound, like an irritated dog, and she couldn't help but laugh into her palm. This only seemed to irk him further, and he turned away.

"How about we make a compact?"

Rui didn't reply for a moment. He walked to the wall, and touched it, and walked back with his arms behind his back, fingers gripped tight. Finally, he said, "What do you suggest?"

It was like making a deal with the devil, Tsukushi thought.

"I'll face my fear, if you face yours." He spun on her, but she only stood against the side of the staircase and grinned at him. It surprised him. She had disliked him so, but now, she was trying to help him; to coax him out of his paralysis.

"Why are you doing this?"

It was a good question. She wants me to go away to Paris, probably, he thought.

"Hanazawa Rui," she addressed him, and he thought her eyes were more intense than he remembered. She brought her face close to his again, and he almost pulled away: but her eyes seemed to hold him fast. "You need to _pull yourself together_! Honestly. Both of our lives are falling apart, and neither of us are doing anything about it! Isn't that strange? Isn't that queer? So I say we both reach out and try to make things right again. I'm going to leave Akira, and you're going to go after Shizuka, because you love her. I know you do, Hanazawa Rui."

"Why do you always use my full name?"

"Nothing else would fit."

They stared at one another, and finally Rui's shoulders slumped. He put his head on the pillow of his arms and let out one long sigh. "I guess I'll do it, then." He looked at her. "But you can't tell the others."

"Scout's honor."

"Are you really going to leave Akira?"

Tsukushi paused. Of course she was. He knew she was. She couldn't understand why, but she had to do it. It was in her bones. She lowered her head. "Why?"

"It's the only way I can free myself," she said. "I thought I would wait until next year, but I'm going to try to move out of the mansion. I've saved up some money, and I think that if I work hard, I can keep a modest place while still working and going to school."

"Will Tsukasa's mother stand for this?"

Tsukushi shrugged her shoulders. "One step at a time, right?" She smiled. The second time, he thought. "So? Is it a deal?"

"It is."

--

Tsukasa told his sister about his plan that same night.

"Tsukushi!" he called up the stairs. It clearly wasn't loud enough. "Tsukushi!" he yelled again, his voice reverberating off the walls. Finally he heard a door slam and some pounding footsteps in the east hallway. She was holding a textbook in one hand and a pencil in the other, and was wearing a cute pair of pajama pants.

"What on earth do you want? It's nearly midnight."

"I know! Come down."

"What for?"

"Just come down!" Everything was such a chore with her! Tsukasa went into the dining room, where he was putting down a sumptuous midnight snack. His sister joined him in a couple of minutes, book still in hand.

He finished chewing and wiped his mouth. "We're going to Hiroshima."

She blinked.

"Pardon me?"

"I've bought us both train tickets to Hiroshima. We're leaving on the Wednesday of the last day of school for the four-day vacation. We come back on Sunday."

She almost said, "But I have work!" and stopped herself.

"Tsukasa," she said in a warning tone, "this is very inconvenient for me."

He stopped short and gave her a strange look. "What do you mean? I talked to your uncle, and the family is going to be back on holiday at the same time. Look how lucky it is! You can visit them. We'll stay in the old resort house that father kept there."


	22. The Big Finish!

Hey you wonderful readers—

**I am an author!** A real publishing authoring crazy person! While I'm still in the process of getting an agent, I'm negotiating a deal with a publisher on a book series I wrote last year titled _The Devil's Throne_.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know about my new venture, and to point you to a new place where you can view TONS of new, original work! In my quest to sell my stories and get myself out there, I've started a blog where I post short stories, long stories, book reviews, writing tips and how-tos. Soon I'll even be publishing e-books while I wait on the publisher deal.

The address is: Prolific Novelista .com!

I just felt I owe you guys this because I don't write fanfiction anymore. I wanted to justify to you that it's not about fanfiction—it's that I started developing ideas so original they just needed to be stand-alone pieces of work, work that I could build a career on.

So I hope you will come visit me!

Much love,

eriedragon


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